Smallville Episode X09 Freeze
by Backward Galaxy
Summary: Episode 9 of 10 of a series of Smallville fan scripts. In this episode, Lex is held hostage by Victor Fries. Special guests include Victor Fries, Power Girl, Captain Marvel, the Star-Spangled Kid, Jay Garrick, and Doctor Fate.
1. Default Chapter

EXT. LEX'S MANSION - MORNING  
  
A hideous scream tears through the morning mist as a winged beast soars through the air, fangs and claws extended. Three men in hard hats lower a stone gargoyle into place with the assistance of a large crane parked in the otherwise neatly groomed front lawn of the Luthor mansion.  
  
Fingering an old Christmas picture, Clark parks his truck behind a row of construction vehicles in the driveway outside the mansion. Sighing, taking a breath, he closes the picture inside the glove compartment and steps outside.  
  
Mercy Graves turns, throwing off the pinstripes of her tailored Armani suit. All spark to her spirit has long since faded and she eyes Clark with a cold, deadpan, expression as he walks up to the mansion.  
  
MERCY GRAVES Excuse me.  
  
Taking a direct line, she intercepts Clark who jumps slightly, his attention snapped away from the massive crane.  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
Excuse me, where do you think you're going?  
  
CLARK I'm here to.  
  
He hesitates, taking a second look at her. Something about her seems familiar but, he can't quite put his finger on it...  
  
CLARK  
  
I'm here to see Lex.  
  
MERCY GRAVES Do you have an appointment to see Mr. Luthor?  
  
CLARK An appointment? No, I.  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
I'm sorry but no one sees Mr. Luthor without an appointment.  
  
CLARK He called me. He told me he wanted to see me. My name is Clark Kent.  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
And that makes you.  
  
She waits for him to fill in the blank. He stands tall and answers her with a surprisingly fresh warmth.  
  
CLARK A friend.  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
Mr. Luthor has many friends, Mr. Kent, especially since the accident.  
  
CLARK  
  
I was 'in' the accident.  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm afraid that I'm still going to have to ask you to.  
  
Lex takes great joy in interrupting her as he steps in from behind her.  
  
LEX  
  
Sheath the claws, Mercy. It's all right.  
  
He walks around her and over to Clark stepping across the invisible line in the grass marking the sides.  
  
LEX  
  
Clark Kent is a close and personal friend. Oh, but that's right, you two have already met.  
  
Mercy's eyes widen slightly as her body tenses. Clark seems confused.  
  
CLARK  
  
We have?  
  
LEX  
  
Haven't you?  
  
Lex smiles, enjoying watching Mercy squirm.  
  
CLARK  
  
You know, now that I think about it, you do look familiar.  
  
MERCY GRAVES I.  
  
She chokes.  
  
LEX  
  
Oh, no, wait. You know what? I take that back.  
  
He turns to Clark.  
  
LEX  
  
It was Madeline I introduced you to. Remember? I don't know what I was thinking. I've just hired Mercy recently. You two couldn't have met.  
  
CLARK  
  
Oh.  
  
Clark shrugs, accepting Lex's explanation. Mercy finally exhales.  
  
LEX  
  
It's all right, Mercy. You can run along now. Why don't you go and check on the new security cameras. I was looking at the system yesterday and I think the ones in the guest bedrooms on the second floor are malfunctioning.  
  
Mercy turns to him with an especially cold fire in her eyes. understandable considering where Mercy sleeps at night.  
  
Clark looks a bit surprised by Lex's admission as well. Lex just laughs.  
  
LEX  
  
Don't get your panties in a knot, Clark, they're only on when no one's using them.  
  
Clark nods, shrugging off the panties remark. Mercy doesn't look particularly amused either.  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
I'll look into it, Mr. Luthor.  
  
She storms off.  
  
Lex smiles and starts walking in the opposite direction, Clark in tow.  
  
CLARK So, doing some redecorating?  
  
LEX  
  
::smirks:: I have Noah running a little errand for me in Gotham City. I hired Mercy to step in for him while he's gone. She's young, inexperienced, not nearly as efficient, but. she looks better in heels.  
  
CLARK I was talking about the mansion.  
  
Lex turns and looks up as another one of the gargoyles is lowered into place.  
  
LEX Stone gargoyles, I had them imported from Scotland. Half-men, half- monster, during medieval times kings would have them perched atop their castles as a way of warding off evil spirits. Legend even has it that they would come alive at night to protect the castle from invaders, only to return to stone again by sunrise.  
  
CLARK ::nods:: I've seen the cartoon.  
  
LEX  
  
After the break-in, I figured it prudent to boost security around the mansion. I doubt Howard's family will find much solace in it, but I'm hoping to sleep a little easier.  
  
CLARK So, you bought a few statues? Come on, Lex, you don't actually believe in that stuff, do you?  
  
LEX  
  
Only when it's true.  
  
Clark pauses a moment to test the sincerity in Lex's eyes. Not wanting to ask the question, though, he moves on.  
  
CLARK So, what did you want to see me about?  
  
LEX  
  
I wanted to let you know that I spoke to Mr. Gale this morning, the private investigator I hired.  
  
A glimmer of hope runs over Clark's face. Lex regrets having to shoot it down.  
  
LEX I'm afraid he came up empty.  
  
Hope. Gone.  
  
CLARK Not surprising. The police haven't been able to make heads or tails of it either. It's like they all just fell off the face of the Earth.  
  
LEX  
  
He did make a request. He wanted me to ask if your mother would be willing to let him interview her again, see if there's anything else she can remember from that night; how she ended up in the mansion.  
  
CLARK She already told him everything she knows.  
  
LEX  
  
Sometimes, a little time to reflect can prove an efficient way of organizing our thoughts, things we couldn't make sense of at first.  
  
CLARK  
  
He's already interviewed her three times, Lex. She doesn't remember.  
  
LEX ::shrugs:: And I told him that, but he was insistent. I told him I'd ask, but no promises.  
  
CLARK  
  
I don't know what he expects to find. How many times can you ask the same questions? The cruiser flipped over, Dad went to get help, she pulled Sheriff Adams free and then.  
  
LEX  
  
.And then, somehow, she woke up in my house more than twenty miles away from where they crashed.  
  
Clark nods, diverting his eyes toward nothing in particular. Lex picks up on it and smiles to himself.  
  
LEX  
  
You know, maybe you're right.  
  
Lex folds his arms across his chest and looks back at the mansion as the construction workers finish bolting down one of the gargoyles.  
  
LEX Maybe I am wasting my time with these statues. Maybe I should just get myself a guardian angel, like the one that seems so fond of your family.  
  
CLARK  
  
::frustrated:: What's that supposed to mean?  
  
LEX  
  
Well, you have to admit, Clark, there are some rather glaring similarities between the two stories. Both mother and son involved in a horrific crash, by all accounts they should be dead, but both miraculously end up miles away from the respective crash sites, without a scratch on them and absolutely no recollection of how they got there.  
  
CLARK  
  
Don't you think I'd tell you if I knew anything? I'm terribly sorry if my amnesia has inconvenienced your investigation, but I did fall out of a helicopter, your helicopter!  
  
Clark turns, ready to storm back to his truck. Lex is quick to start after him, however, not letting him off that easily.  
  
LEX It's not the inconvenience that I find so vexatious, Clark, more so the contrary. How long have we known each other now that we have to keep dancing around the same stockpiled obscurities? I saw you get into that helicopter and I saw it crash into that hangar.  
  
Clark turns to face his accuser.  
  
CLARK  
  
Really, Lex? Well, let me ask you something. You saw so much, how did it feel? How did it feel when your skull slammed down against the hard concrete of that runway?  
  
For a second, they are enemies. They stare into each other's eyes, one the friend accused of lying, the other so utterly convinced of the deception.  
  
Now, it's Lex's turn to divert his eyes, sheepishly looking to the ground in embarrassment.  
  
LEX  
  
You're right. You're right, Clark, and I'm sorry. You're going through a lot right now and I'm not being much of a friend by accusing you of being a liar. I'm sorry.  
  
CLARK  
  
It's all right.  
  
Over Lex's shoulder, Mercy can be seen answering a cell phone. She listens to the other end for a moment, nods, and folds it back up.  
  
LEX  
  
I'll let Mr. Gale know that Mrs. Kent is off limits from now on. He won't bother you or your mother again.  
  
CLARK  
  
Thank you, Lex. for everything.  
  
Mercy steps up behind Lex.  
  
LEX  
  
What are friends.  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
::interrupting:: Excuse me, Mr. Luthor.  
  
LEX  
  
What is it Mercy?  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
I'm sorry to interrupt, sir.  
  
Mercy flashes Clark a quick glance then moves closer to Lex to whisper something in his ear. Lex nods to her.  
  
LEX  
  
All right.  
  
Mercy leaves.  
  
LEX  
  
I'm sorry, Clark. Something's come up at the plant that requires my attention.  
  
CLARK ::nods:: Yeah, I'd better get going too. Gonna go out and. look.  
  
Lex nods sympathetically and places his hand on Clark's shoulder.  
  
LEX  
  
I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything from Mr. Gale. We're going to find them Clark. I promise you that. And you know, when Lex Luthor makes a promise.  
  
CLARK ::nods:: Yup.  
  
Lex offers Clark a reassuring smile and retreats back up the driveway where Mercy awaits him outside a long black limousine. 


	2. f2

INT. LEXCORP PLANT - LABORATORY  
  
A stick and ball, three dimensional, model of a molecule rotates by command on a computer monitor as Victor Fries sits at a computer terminal in the LexCorp Plant's laboratory. Behind him sits a large cylindrical tank filled with a blue liquid, the "Static Life", taller than it is wide and taking up nearly the entire far wall.  
  
A door swings open at the top of a tall metal, sterile, staircase leading down into the laboratory. Lex Luthor, Mercy right behind him, steps through, a prideful smile etched into his jaw.  
  
LEX  
  
Doctor Fries.  
  
The door swings shut behind Lex as he and his newest employee make their way down the stairwell. Fries hesitates before turning to greet them, swallowing before forcing a smile of his own.  
  
FRIES  
  
Mr. Luthor, thank you for coming.  
  
Lex and Mercy descend the stairs, observing the large containment unit setup along the far wall.  
  
LEX  
  
Of course, it's my pleasure. I see you've managed to setup the containment unit already.  
  
FRIES  
  
There wasn't much to set up, thankfully. I handed the blueprints to your men and they did most of the work.  
  
Lex's shiny black shoes hit the concrete floor half a second before Mercy's heels.  
  
LEX  
  
Don't be modest, Doctor. There is a difference between labor and work. None of this would be possible without your hard work and determination. Have you proceeded to the testing phase yet?  
  
FRIES  
  
That is precisely what I wanted to talk to you about.  
  
Fries reaches into his lab coat and pulls out a long syringe filled with a green liquid. Taking a quick step towards Lex, he raises it into the air and brings it back down, stabbing Lex right in the heart. Consumed by shock, Lex barely manages a muffled cough before dropping to his knees and crumbling to the ground.  
  
Mercy almost instantaneously goes from calm and collected, with hands at her side, to furious intensity, gun raised and pointed right at Fries' head. She doesn't bother asking any questions before her finger tenses around the trigger.  
  
THUD!  
  
A shot rings out, deflecting wide over Fries' head, prompting the Doctor to duck reflexively. Mercy hits the ground, unconscious, Nora Fries standing over her, a small fire extinguisher in hand.  
  
Victor quickly stands back upright and makes a mad dash over to the red emergency switch at the base of the metal stairwell. He pulls the switch and, immediately, sirens begin to sound, emergency lights flash, and metal security doors close up around every exit, locking them inside.  
  
Eyes open, but not quite conscious, a small trickle of spit dribbles out the side of Lex's mouth forming a neat puddle on the concrete floor. 


	3. f3

EXT. CABOT FARM - MORNING  
  
A soft breeze gently bends back the golden grass that expands, seemingly infinitely, in all directions. Clark and Pete look out into the endless field, standing just in front of a conspicuously out of place row of trees. A barn can be seen in the distance.  
  
PETE Yeah, so, I gotta be honest with ya, Clark. I'm not seein' no houses.  
  
CLARK ::shakes head:: She said it was here, Pete. She said she saw the lights through the trees when they were driving down the road.  
  
Clark turns around and motions towards a small gap in the trees where a town roadway can be seen corralled by a fence and the trees on either side. The fence and trees clearly mark out the path of the road in each direction, and also act as a convenient geographical border to the farm.  
  
CLARK It's got to be here.  
  
Pete takes a long look to his left, then an equally generous one to his right.  
  
PETE ::shrugs:: Well, unless the Kent family's doing some backwards inheritance and Ma Kent's grown herself some super-peepers, the closest thing's I see is old man Cabot's barn. There's no way she could have seen that from the road.  
  
Clark, desperately lacking a rebuttal, utilizes his previously mentioned "super-peepers" to look over the farm in the way only he can.  
  
PETE  
  
Yo, man, what are you doing?  
  
CLARK  
  
There's got to be something here, Pete.  
  
PETE  
  
You're doing that thing with your eyes again, aren't you?  
  
Clark turns his gaze to his left, continuing his meticulous canvass of the farm by, literally, looking completely through his good buddy.  
  
PETE  
  
Yo, Clark, I ain't playin' wit' you, man!  
  
Pete jumps out of line of sight.  
  
PETE ::angry:: What did I tell you about doing that. that.  
  
Pete points to his eyes and makes a buzzing sound.  
  
PETE  
  
.zzzzz. thing around me?  
  
CLARK It's harmless, Pete.  
  
PETE  
  
Yeah, harmless, sure. It's harmless until some bug flies up in your eye and all of a sudden it's Pete "The Human Torch".  
  
CLARK ::smiles devilishly:: What's wrong, Pete? Don't you trust me?  
  
PETE  
  
Yeah, I trust you. I also trust you to hold a loaded gun to my head and not pull the trigger, but I'm not gonna let you do that either. All I need's some Russian cosmonaut with an appetite for three bean salad to jettison his business the way of the sun, next thing I know I'm bursting into flames and all that's left of sidekick Pete is two smoking cinders and some Reeboks.  
  
Clark shakes his head in frustration, his search revealing little more than a few lost nickels and dimes.  
  
CLARK  
  
Nothing.  
  
PETE  
  
Look, it was dark out, right? They were driving around in the cruiser. Their lights were on. Maybe some of the lights on the dashboard were reflecting off the window. Maybe that's what she saw.  
  
CLARK  
  
How do you mistake reflections off a car window for a porch light?  
  
Pete throws his hand in the air.  
  
PETE  
  
How do you mistake nothing for a house?  
  
A slight rumbling in the distance, moving closer, grabs their attention. Clark peers through the trees revealing a car driving towards them from down the road. He rolls his eyes upon recognizing the driver.  
  
CLARK Oh great, this is all I need.  
  
PETE  
  
What?  
  
CLARK  
  
It's Chloe.  
  
PETE  
  
That's bad? I thought you two were all like. you know.  
  
Pete starts up a classic erotic beat, adding a head bob.  
  
CLARK  
  
Not quite.  
  
Chloe pulls up along the roadside next to Clark's truck, coming to an aggressive stop. As she gets out of her car, she slams the door shut, looking seriously fumed. Carrying a notebook, with some papers stuffed inside the front cover, she storms through the gap in the trees and heads straight for Clark.  
  
CHLOE  
  
You know, I almost could have accepted the Lone Ranger routine, after all, it wouldn't have been the first time you abandoned the people you cared about and went off on your own little grail quest.  
  
PETE  
  
::under breath:: Uh oh.  
  
CHLOE Don't get me wrong, I think the dynamic duo routine you two have going is just the cutest, but hell I half expected at least a Scooby snack under my pillow, but then I guess if a member of the gang were to get the axe, the dog would be the weakest link, and since I'm obviously the group's bitch, that would put me at the top of the list.  
  
Chloe steps up to Clark, arching her neck to look up at him as she tears into him.  
  
PETE  
  
Chloe.  
  
She quickly turns her attention to Pete.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Shut up, Shaggy, I'm pissed at you too.  
  
PETE  
  
Shutting up.  
  
She turns back to Clark.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Of all the selfish, insensitive, bullheaded things you could have pulled. You think you're the only one whose life has been turned upside down and crapped on? My father's missing too, you know, and probably thanks to that Miss Priss princess you've spent half your life pining over. So help me god, I'm gonna kick her bony little ass when I find her. How dare you leave me behind!  
  
PETE Chloe, we didn't leave you behind.  
  
Again turning to Pete, she points back to the gap in the trees.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Go sit in the car!  
  
PETE  
  
Yes, ma'am.  
  
Pete sheepishly runs off to the truck.  
  
Chloe looks back at Clark and waits for an answer.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Well? Are you going to say something or are you just going to pretend like the cat completely swallowed your tongue?  
  
He takes a step back, distancing himself from the fumes emanating from beneath the blondeness.  
  
CLARK You have a concussion. You should be in bed.  
  
CHLOE No, I should be dead, there's a big difference. But I'll tell you this, nothing short of that is going to keep me from looking for my father, least of all you.  
  
CLARK  
  
No one's trying to keep you from looking for your father.  
  
CHLOE  
  
So, you just don't want me around?  
  
CLARK  
  
I didn't say that.  
  
CHLOE  
  
You didn't have too say that. What the hell is with you and near death experiences anyway, Clark? Most of the time, it brings people closer together. There are all these wonderful revelations about life, and death, and relationships. People kiss, they fall in love, live happily ever after. With you, it's more like being a little puppy that got locked in a closet for peeing on the rug.  
  
CLARK  
  
That's not true.  
  
He turns his back to her and starts walking to nowhere in particular.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Oh really? And yet, here you are, turning your back on me and walking away again. Seriously, Clark, this weight of the world schtick is really wearing thin.  
  
CLARK You don't understand.  
  
She walks after him.  
  
CHLOE Yeah, no crap I don't understand, you never tell me anything. ever!  
  
She steps in front of him, cutting him off.  
  
CHLOE You always have to go out and do everything on your own like some godforsaken rogue on a bender. No, you're more content with sneaking out of the house at four thirty in the morning without telling anyone where you went, how to contact you, or when the hell we're ever going to see you again. My father's missing, my house is a crime scene, and I haven't seen my boyfriend in more than a week despite the fact that I've been living in his freaking house!  
  
CLARK  
  
I've been out trying to find them, just like you.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Just like me, just like your mother, just like the police, and just like everyone else in Smallville. What makes you think you have any better chance of finding them than we do?  
  
He starts to answer, but quickly catches himself.  
  
CHLOE  
  
This isn't a one man show, Clark. There's a whole supporting cast out there of people with real feelings, and real lives, who have all been affected by what's happened and yet you seem content with dealing with it all on your own and leaving the rest of us to rot in the wallowing pool. Well, guess what, that's not how it works.  
  
CLARK  
  
Look, can't you just accept the fact that some people handle these situations differently than you do? What do you want from me!?  
  
CHLOE  
  
I want you! I need you. I'm going crazy here, Clark, and you're not even talking to me. I need you to stop trying to be some kind of super-man and for once in your life be content with being a man... a man who's there for the people he cares about and the people who care about him. I'm grateful that you saved my life, Clark, but sometimes it's not enough for you to just swoop down out of the sky, or a helicopter, with a miraculous, inexplicable, rescue if you're just gonna disappear afterwards. That's not fair. I need you to be there for me and let me be there for you.  
  
Hesitant, looks to her as if he's in pain, which really isn't far from the truth.  
  
CLARK  
  
I don't know if I can do that anymore.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Why not?  
  
CLARK  
  
I.  
  
He chokes.  
  
CLARK  
  
I just. I want too.  
  
Clark hangs his head and turns away from her, again.  
  
CLARK  
  
I just don't know if I can. I'm sorry. It's just. so much has happened. I just don't know what to do anymore.  
  
Placing her hand on his arm, she walks around him, catching his eyes with her own.  
  
CHLOE  
  
For starters, you can let me help. This is a team effort, Clark. You don't have to do this alone. and it's not fair for you to try.  
  
She lifts up the notebook between them, showing it to him.  
  
CHLOE  
  
I found the house. 


	4. f4

EXT. FIELD HILL - MORNING  
  
Clark, Chloe, and Pete stand at the base of a conspicuously familiar short hill, looking up.  
  
PETE  
  
So. This is the house, huh?  
  
At the top of the hill sits a pile of old putrefying wood, with scorched edges, the decaying remains of a house caved in on itself.  
  
CHLOE  
  
::shrugs:: What's left of it.  
  
CLARK  
  
I don't understand.  
  
Clark climbs the hill, walking around the side of the cluttered pile. Pete climbs up behind him.  
  
CLARK How can this be the house?  
  
Pete gives a rogue plank jutting out from the mess a quick kick with his sneaker. It softly crumbles and turns to dust, scattering in the wind.  
  
PETE It's kind of a fixer upper.  
  
Chloe consults her notebook. CHLOE  
  
According to town records, it's the only house that's ever been built anywhere near the roadside. In fact, only eight houses have ever been built on Run Way. There's one.  
  
Chloe turns to her left.  
  
CHLOE  
  
. east of here, about two miles off the road; it's part of the old Cabot Farm. The fence the cruiser crashed into marks the end of the farm. Then, there's six more houses.  
  
Chloe turns right.  
  
CHLOE .about five miles west of here, but that's part of a new development, and beyond the crash site. She couldn't have seen those from looking out the side window.  
  
Pete picks up a piece of rotting wood and crumbles it in his hand.  
  
PETE  
  
Uh, I hate to break it to you, Chloe, but this wreck looks like it's been here so long it could've been part of the original Ark.  
  
CHLOE You mean as opposed to that new one they built?  
  
PETE  
  
::confused:: What?  
  
CHLOE  
  
::rolls eyes:: Nevermind. Actually, you're not too far off, though. It burned to the ground in 1963. and again in 1964. and then again in 1965.  
  
PETE  
  
Serious?  
  
CLARK  
  
Sounds like someone didn't want a house built here.  
  
CHLOE The land was owned by a real estate agency at the time, Reizer-West. They were able to purchase the land from the town after the bank foreclosed on the original owner, one Regulus Trenton, a known cultist slash real estate mogul who, in the early 1930's, took advantage of the Great Depression by buying up cheap real estate for almost nothing.  
  
PETE  
  
A cultist? You mean like those sneaker freaks?  
  
CHLOE  
  
Not quite.  
  
CLARK  
  
I don't think they had Nike in the 1930s, Pete.  
  
CHLOE They called themselves the Shadow-Els. They used to march through towns all throughout the Midwest, telling people to prepare for the arrival of the great deliverer, one aptly named El, who would free mankind from the oppressive force known as the Evil One, whoever or whatever that is.  
  
Clark looks up at Pete. They both take particular interest in the story at the mention of El.  
  
CHLOE  
  
The group gained particular popularity around the late 1950s and saw its peak in early 1961, when Trenton actually predicted the exact day that this El was supposed arrive on Earth, coincidentally right here in Smallville.  
  
PETE ::under breath:: Yo, man, didn't you tell me your pops visited Earth in 1961?  
  
Pete nonchalantly looks over at Clark who nods to him, his acute sense of hearing allowing him to hear Pete completely on the other side of the rubble.  
  
CHLOE Unfortunately- for him anyway - that day came and passed and so did his following. As the numbers of his cult membership dwindled, so did his bank account, and pretty soon he would lose everything, including this house.  
  
PETE  
  
Sucks to be him.  
  
CHLOE  
  
This was forty years ago, he would be dead now, Pete.  
  
PETE  
  
Right, I knew that.  
  
CHLOE Here's where it starts to get weird, though. Shortly after Reizer-West bought the land, the house mysteriously went up in flames. No cause was ever determined, but the town sheriff suspected arson. His suspicions were only fortified after Reizer-West hired a building company to rebuild the house only to see it burned down twice more. They were never able connect anyone with either of those fires either.  
  
PETE  
  
What about that Trenton guy?  
  
CHLOE  
  
Well, he was their number one suspect, but they could never find him. He disappeared, along with the remaining few members of his cult, shortly after going bankrupt. Reizer-West eventually just pawned off the land to the neighboring farmer, Marcus Cabot, after getting tired of hemorrhaging money into rebuilding the house.  
  
Failing to find anything useful using the more conventional means at his disposal, Clark once again calls upon his extraordinary sight to peer through the rotting planks. At first, nothing of particular interest stands out to him but, just before giving in to his frustration and giving up, something in the very center draws his attention. A miniscule blue glow, like a tiny pulsating flare, flickers beneath the rubble like the faint flame in a gas fireplace.  
  
Lacking only the opportunity to go sifting through the planks, Clark looks to Pete for a distraction, motioning towards Chloe with a short nod. Pete replies with a nod of his own and starts down the hill.  
  
PETE  
  
Hey, I don't get it, Chloe. If this is the house, how could Mrs. Kent have seen. AH!  
  
Pete pretends to trip, falling to the ground and barrel rolling down the hill.  
  
CHLOE Pete!  
  
As Pete narrowly misses plowing Chloe over like a bowling ball toward a ten pin, Clark takes advantage of the distraction by peering through the trees at his own family's truck's front right tire.  
  
BANG!  
  
Chloe and Pete duck down instinctively, reflexively, as the sound of the exploding tire rings out. At first forgetting to duck, Clark follows suit for appearance sake.  
  
CHLOE  
  
What the hell was that?  
  
PETE  
  
It sounded like an explosion!  
  
Dusting himself off, unphased by his less than graceful fall, Pete quickly gets to his feet, Chloe helping him up. The three of them run through the trees to find Clark's truck down one tire.  
  
Pete grabs his nose at the smell of the smoldering rubber.  
  
PETE  
  
Whoa! Man, that reeks!  
  
CHLOE  
  
Now, how did that happen?  
  
Clark bends down, pretending to inspect the tire.  
  
CLARK  
  
There must have been an air pocket in the tire. It completely blew.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Well, you have a spare, right?  
  
CLARK ::shakes head:: I blew one out a couple of weeks ago running over a rake in front of the barn. After we got the new one, I got lazy and just threw the spare in the back, but I took it out when I was bringing the feed out into the fields the other day, you know, to make room. I must have forgotten to put it back.  
  
Clark and Pete each pretend to be utterly demoralized. Clark evens adds a frustrated slap to the car door for emphasis.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Oh. Well, I have a spare in the trunk of my car. Will that work on your truck?  
  
CLARK AND PETE No.  
  
Both Clark and Pete recoil a bit, sheepishly.  
  
CLARK  
  
The tires. they're two different kinds of tires for a car and a truck.  
  
PETE ::nods:: Yeah, two different sizes.  
  
CHLOE Oh.  
  
She shrugs, accepting their explanation.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Well, you want to call a tow truck? Pete, you have your phone, right?  
  
Pete, not thinking.  
  
PETE  
  
::nods:: Yeah.  
  
Clark rolls his eyes and shakes his head as Pete catches himself.  
  
PETE  
  
I mean no. No, I. I forgot it.  
  
CHLOE  
  
You forgot it? I thought you had it surgically attached for your birthday. You never go anywhere without your cell phone.  
  
PETE ::shrugs:: First time for everything I guess.  
  
Clark steps up behind his friend, allowing Pete to secretly slip his cell phone out of his back pocket and into Clark's hand. Clark adeptly slides the phone up into his sleeve and steps to the side.  
  
CHLOE Well, I guess we could go get the tire in my car.  
  
PETE ::nods:: Yeah, I think that's probably our best option at this point. Come on.  
  
CLARK  
  
Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.  
  
Pete grabs Chloe by the arm and starts dragging her to her car.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Peeeete.  
  
She resists, slapping his hand off her arm, shooting him the ever classic "look of death".  
  
CHLOE  
  
Aren't you coming, Clark?  
  
Clark hesitates with his response, racking his brain for an excuse to stay he foolishly hadn't anticipated needing.  
  
CLARK ::shakes head:: Someone should stay with the truck... so no one tries to steal it.  
  
Chloe takes a quick look over at the truck, a vintage POS.  
  
CLARK Since it's my fault, it's only fair I should be the one to stay. Besides, Pete knows where the tire is, don't you Pete?  
  
PETE  
  
Yeah, yeah, I know. I know exactly where it is. Exactly. In fact.  
  
Pete closes his eyes tightly.  
  
PETE I can close my eyes, and I can see it. I can see the tire right now. I know exactly where it is. So, come on.  
  
He urges Chloe toward the car.  
  
PETE  
  
We'll be there and back before you know it.  
  
CHLOE Oh. Well, okay.  
  
CLARK  
  
Thanks, Chloe. I really owe you one.  
  
Clark gives her a quick peck on the cheek to seal the deal. She melts into a little girl's smile.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Sure, Clark.  
  
She starts back towards the car, walking backwards to keep her eyes on Clark. Pete again goes to grab her arm, to urge her on. That was a mistake. Out of nowhere, she turns and punches him right in the arm.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Well you stop?  
  
PETE  
  
Ow!  
  
Pete rubs his arm, utterly appalled that she hit him.  
  
PETE  
  
That hurt, you blonde bitch.  
  
CHLOE I told you, I'm mad at you.  
  
She gets into the car as Pete walks around to the passenger's side.  
  
PETE  
  
::pouting:: I didn't do anything. He's the one who snuck out of the house. Be mad at him.  
  
CHLOE Get in the car, baby.  
  
Pete does so, but not before shooting Clark a look that says "you owe me one." Clark smiles and waves as they turn back onto the road and drive off.  
  
Back in front of the crumbling remains of the house, Clark glares through the rotting wood at the tiny blue flame amazingly flickering beneath the rubble. Taking a quick peak to either side, to ensure no one else is around, Clark concentrates on the pile. Searing hot streams of heat burst from his eyes, completely incinerating the already decaying planks.  
  
As the wooden remains slowly sink into nothingness against Clark's heat vision, the tiny blue flame finds its way back into the sunlight. Waiting half a second too long, though, Clark inadvertently draws his heat beams over the flame and it ignites in a massive blue fireball that explodes outward, hurtling Clark fifty feet into the air, slamming him into the trunk of one of the trees down by the roadside.  
  
Spitting a healthy cow mix of grass and dirt from his mouth, Clark forces himself to his feet, his shirt and pants now relegated to scorched tatters. He stands looking up at the top of the hill in utter amazement. Where once sat the docile, lowly, remains of a house long since laid to waste now hovers an immense swirling portal of burning blue fire. 


	5. f5

EXT. FIELD HILL - MORNING  
  
Clark approaches the portal, squinting his eyes against the powerfully bright blue light. Stepping close to the swirling flames, Clark tentatively reaches out with his hand. As if drawn to him, several dancing wisps whirlpool their way out of the very center of the portal and up his outstretched arm. He tries pulling away but, as if alive, the portal's flames reach out for him, swallowing him up before extinguishing, leaving no trace of itself, or Clark, behind.  
  
EXT. THE WOODS - DAY  
  
A thick layer of black storm clouds and dense tree cover blocks out the sun's rays as a cloaked figure runs desperately through the forest. With added determination in each successive stride, the cloaked stranger remains resolved to an impassioned purpose, weaving their way between the trees, rocks, and rotted out stumps.  
  
A bolt of lightning crashes down in the distance and, not a rolling thunder, but a resounding roar explodes from the skies, distracting the stranger for a reflexive second of fear, long enough to miss the short pile of leaves directly in their path. With a breathless "Uumph", the stranger hits the ground, their foot caught against an oddly solid instrument hidden beneath the fallen foliage.  
  
The hood rolls back from the stranger's cloak as the mystery person picks herself up from the dirtied forest floor. Lana looks back at her foot, a pained expression across her face. Crawling back, she dusts away the leaves to inspect the hidden obstacle that so abruptly halted her pace, a memorial golden Ankh - a looped cross - embedded into the ground at its hilt. Etched across the center, a name; Inza.  
  
After paying brief respect, Lana picks herself up off her knees, coming to her feet. Stepping around the Ankh, she lifts her open hands above her head, the loose sleeves of the cloak bundling up around her shoulders.  
  
LANA  
  
Katanna Cah'nayla!  
  
As the first droplets of rain begin to fall, so does the forest dissolve away in front of her, like paint off a canvas. Before long, the trees and rocks are but a memory, replaced by a monumental stone tower that reaches straight up and through the roof of the clouds, disappearing into the sky. Yet, this tower is a strange one indeed, without door, nor window, nor openings of any kind.  
  
Pounding rain floods the ground from the skies above as Lana slaps her hands against the stone tower wall.  
  
LANA  
  
Mystic! You have to let me inside! I must speak with you!  
  
She waits for an answer. Another thunderous BOOM is all she gets in reply.  
  
LANA  
  
::angry:: Mys.!  
  
A bright white light, in the shape of an Ankh, opens up in the side of the stone wall and swallows Lana whole.  
  
INT. SALEM TOWER - CHAMBERS  
  
Lana falls into the dark chambers through a bright hole in an otherwise darkened wall.  
  
LANA .tic!  
  
The light shrinks down to nothingness behind her as she lets out a surprised yelp. Regaining her composure, Lana inspects the layout of the "room" around her which, rather plainly, consists wholly of a celestial marble floor, a single blue candle in the center providing all of the room's illumination, and circular steps at the far side. At the top of the steps can be seen the outline of a man, seated in an elaborate golden throne, most of his body, including his face, shrouded behind an all consuming shadow.  
  
DOCTOR FATE There is no need to yell, young one.  
  
Fate speaks in a calm, serene-tempered, voice. His words are deliberate and carefully chosen, each one given their own precise pronunciation.  
  
DOCTOR FATE I am old. I am not deaf.  
  
Lana walks across the marble floor, keeping on the near side of the blue candle so as to allow its flame to illuminate her fiery glare.  
  
LANA  
  
He has found the portal.  
  
DOCTOR FATE Yes, I know.  
  
LANA  
  
But he is not ready. They trusted you. I trusted you. You promised you would protect the portal with your magic.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
And so I did. but destiny is a power that even Fate dare not tempt. I told you, if it was his destiny to find the gate, he would find it. There was little I could do to stop him.  
  
LANA  
  
Then you failed. and we will all die because of it!  
  
From behind shadow, Fate lifts his hand to her.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Patience. Patience, young one. He has but his foot in the door. It is not enough to merely enter the tunnel. There is only darkness there. He must also find his way out, to the other side, and to do that he must go through me. He must see his way through Fate's illusion. He may be the Superman. but this is my realm.  
  
Out of the shadows, he stands. He steps out into the blue light, or more accurately hovers, his feet never actually touching the ground. A yellow cape falls gracefully over his shoulders and the blue flame of the single candle reflects majestically against the sovereign shine of his golden helm.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
. And the Doctor is in. 


	6. f6

INT. LEXCORP PLANT - LABORATORY  
  
A tittle of drool dribbles out the side of Lex's mouth and streaks back toward his ear, his head slumped back. Unconscious, Lex sits bound to a cold steel chair, the thick interweaved threads of the industrial rope digging into the bare sides of his chest, his shirt having been removed. Mercy sits a few feet to his left and similarly torpid, bound to a chair of her own. Unlike Lex, her clothing ensemble seems relatively intact.  
  
Doctor Victor Fries kneels down next to Lex, swabbing his arm with some alcohol and cotton. Quickly jabbing the sterilized area with a small syringe, Fries takes a small sample of blood from Lex's arm.  
  
Satisfied with the sample, Fries stands up and walks over to a sterile table with some lab equipment on it, including a high-tech microscope. He takes a sample of Lex's blood from the syringe and investigates it under the microscope.  
  
LEX  
  
Your life is over. you know that.  
  
Fries doesn't even bother to look up.  
  
VICTOR FRIES Apologies, my well-off friend, but I've long since accepted my kismet.  
  
Lex's eyes shake in his skull, still suffering the affects of Fries' assault.  
  
LEX  
  
What the hell did you do to me?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Forgive me, once again, but I must question the logic in asking such a question. What is done is done. It is not dependent on your knowing it.  
  
LEX  
  
I want to know!  
  
Fries looks up from the microscope, taking a long, slow, breath. He seems tired.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
I promised to work to cure your body of its malady, and so I fulfilled that promise.  
  
Fries motions to the microscope.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Your blood work checks out. You are. healed, Lex Luthor.  
  
LEX  
  
::confused:: I. I don't understand. What are you talking about?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
I injected you with the serum your father's company developed.  
  
LEX  
  
No!  
  
VICTOR FRIES I regret my actions, but time has left me with an ever dwindling number of choices with each passing moment. I knew you would object.  
  
LEX  
  
You're damn right I object! You had no right to do that!  
  
Lex wrenches his body in the chair, more out of anger than an attempt to escape the bindings.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
I am a Doctor. My duty is to do everything in my power to heal my patients.  
  
LEX  
  
I sign your paychecks! Your duty was to do whatever the hell I told you to do!  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
And so it is a great comfort to me that your judicious mind will take solace in your unremitting proclivity to expelling your father's hand from atop your head. You neither accepted nor gave in to his despotic will. It was simply out of your hands.  
  
LEX  
  
Is that supposed to make me feel better?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
I'm a medical physician, not a psychiatrist.  
  
LEX  
  
When I'm done with you, you won't be either. You'll never practice medicine again!  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
After today, I won't have too. thanks to you.  
  
Fries stands up and walks across the room to where the large chamber has come to life, the hum of power flowing through it reverberating throughout the lab. Almost affectionately, he lays his hand against the tank, closing his eyes and smiling lightly.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
.Thanks to this; the Static Life Chamber. I must thank you, Lex Luthor. I owe you everything. Without you, this would not have been possible.  
  
LEX  
  
You used me. You used me to get it built.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Another one of many actions that I do regret. I simply had no other choice.  
  
LEX  
  
So, are you going to tell me what it really does, then?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Oh, it's exactly what I told you it was; an actual life sustaining chamber. Anyone inside is held in perfect suspended animation, virtually frozen in time.  
  
LEX  
  
I don't understand.  
  
VICTOR FRIES What's there to understand?  
  
LEX  
  
The plan the whole time was to put me into the chamber, to buy you the time you needed to discover the cure on your own.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Precisely.  
  
LEX  
  
Then why inject me with my father's serum? If it works, why kidnap me and initiate a plant lockdown?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Because. the chamber itself is the easy part. It's just a bevy of mechanical parts and nuts and bolts. It's a containment unit. The Static Life molecule is what makes it all work, and it takes time to create. It took over a year just to synthesize enough molecules to fill this single tank. If I only had more time, perhaps. but time is something I am simply not afforded much of these days.  
  
Lex looks at Fries like a little boy staring at a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
You must believe me. I want you to understand.  
  
He honestly does.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
If I had had the time necessary to synthesize more molecules, enough for a second chamber.  
  
LEX  
  
A second chamber?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
If I had only had the time, I would have built another, but your condition was worsening far too quickly. You didn't have that long and.  
  
He stops himself and turns away. He can't even look at Lex.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
. neither does she.  
  
Fries mouths the words with such and anguish, such a concentrated pain, the puzzle completes itself.  
  
LEX  
  
Your wife?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
::nods:: My Nora.  
  
Fries lays his hand over his heart as if holding an open wound shut to keep himself from bleeding to death.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
When she was initially diagnosed, she was only given a year to live, two at most. I have spent every conscious moment, since then, working to keep my wife with me, by my side.  
  
Victor turns back around, standing tall, defiant.  
  
VICTOR FRIES My wife, my Nora, was diagnosed with McGregor's Syndrome six years ago.  
  
Fries again diverts his eyes.  
  
VICTOR FRIES But as hard as I have worked, every moment of every day, there came a time when I realized. she was leaving me.  
  
A sense of dismay is quickly, very suddenly, replaced by an intense rage.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
. No, she was being taken from me! And there was not a damn thing I could do about it! Time is a savage, ravenous, enemy. It eats away at us despite any and all efforts. It is the disease of all our lives that no man can ever cure. until now.  
  
Fries looks back at the chamber.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
I knew I would not have enough time to save her, to find the cure. but given more time. Think of how modern medicine has advanced in the past ten years, in the past five years. A cure will be found, in time, and now, because of this chamber my Nora will have all the time the world needs.  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
All that time won't do you any good after I finish putting my boot through your ugly face.  
  
Lex and Victor are both surprised to see Mercy awake. She looks genuinely angry.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
My lovely young lady, if I cared even the smallest of modicums about my fate, I would not be standing before you here today. My wife is all that matters to me.  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
Sentimental idiot.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Perhaps, to you, to someone who has never felt love like I have. Even before I met her, I knew I loved her. She was there with me, wherever I went, like a second shadow to me. It was my faith that she was out there, somewhere, looking for me as I searched for her, that affected my every decision in life because I knew that when I did finally come to know her, I wanted to stand before her the best man that I could be. That is what she deserved. That is what my Nora deserved. I owed it to her then to be every bit the man that I could be and nothing has changed since then. For her love, I owe her everything that I am. I owe her my life.  
  
Fries finishes his speech and looks back at the chamber.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
That is why it doesn't matter what happens to me. Once the chamber is fully activated with Nora inside, and her condition is stable, I will release you and surrender myself to the authorities.  
  
Fries looks over at Mercy with a renewed determination in his stance and expression.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
. but my Nora will live.  
  
LEX  
  
You're forgetting one thing, Fries. It's my chamber. Once you surrender yourself, what's to prevent me from just shutting it down?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
I have been given certain assurances that the chamber's power supply will be maintained.  
  
LEX  
  
What kind of assurances?  
  
LIONEL  
  
The best kind.  
  
Lionel Luthor steps out from behind the Static Life Chamber, a fiendish grin etched into his face.  
  
Lex's jaw clenches. 


	7. f7

INT. DOCTOR FATE'S LABYRINTH  
  
Below a thick mist sits a great labyrinth that stretches out seemingly endlessly out in all directions. In one remote corner, Clark Kent wanders aimlessly around a corner.  
  
HENRY BLACK It's your move.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
I'm very much cognizant of that verity, thank you.  
  
Clark's eyes widen as he is met with two distinct versions of fellow Smallville High School student Henry Jones, one dressed in an all black suit with black shoes, a black tie, and a black rose pinned to his lapel, and the other dressed exactly the same but in all white. The two Henrys sit on opposite sides of a clear glass chess table in a rather large corner of the labyrinth, their game already in progress. They don't seem to notice Clark.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
I'm still thinking.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
You do a lot of that, it seems.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
You make it sound as if that's a bad thing.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Oh, heaven's no. There's nothing wrong with a little good old fashioned forethought. I just figured you'd be courteous enough to put one of your thoughts forth at some point.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
I've told you. I'm thinking.  
  
Overcoming his initial shock, Clark takes a step towards the duel Henrys.  
  
CLARK  
  
Henry?  
  
Henry White ignores Clark completely, but Henry Black looks up.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Clark! What a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect to see you in here.  
  
Henry Black greets Clark with a great big smile, but doesn't get up.  
  
HENRY BLACK Have you come for a game?  
  
Clark doesn't seem particularly sure how to answer that question.  
  
CLARK  
  
Well, I.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
::sarcastic:: Yes, I'm sure that's precisely why he's come. He came to play a game of chess.  
  
Clark hesitates, more than slightly confused.  
  
CLARK  
  
To be honest, I don't really know why I'm here.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
You don't know? Well isn't that bizarro? How could you not know? You're obviously here for a reason.  
  
Henry White gruffly clears his throat.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
I beg your pardon, but I am attempting to concentrate here.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
But it's Clark. We mustn't be rude. He's our friend.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
He's your friend, not mine.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Oh, you're just irritable, Lord only knows why. You're winning. Just look at the board.  
  
Henry Black motions to the piece positioning on the board.  
  
HENRY BLACK You have me.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
Or maybe that's just what you want me to think.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Don't ignore your favorable position just because you're afraid of me. That's giving in to your opponent.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
Can I ignore you?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
::insulted:: No. You can't.  
  
After much deliberation, Henry White makes a move using one of the white chess pieces.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
Your move.  
  
Henry Black barely even glances at the board before moving one of the black chess pieces.  
  
HENRY BLACK Your move.  
  
Henry White seems confused and goes back to thinking. Henry Black turns back his attention to Clark.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Well, don't be shy, Clark. Stay a while. Pull up a chair.  
  
Henry Black motions towards nothing in particular. There are no chairs.  
  
CLARK  
  
I think I'll just stand.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Hm. Suit yourself. Just don't say I didn't offer.  
  
CLARK  
  
I won't.  
  
HENRY BLACK Of course you won't. That's what I like about you, Clark. You're a real stand-up guy.  
  
Henry Black laughs at his own joke, nudging Henry White from across the board.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Get it? Stand-up guy?  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
::shakes head:: You're not funny.  
  
HENRY BLACK Yeah? And you're ugly.  
  
Clark interrupts.  
  
CLARK  
  
Can I ask you a question?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Absolutely.  
  
CLARK What is this place? Where am I?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
That's three questions, Clark, not one.  
  
CLARK  
  
What?  
  
HENRY BLACK You asked me if you could ask a question. That's the singular form of the word, and in asking, you had actually already asked one question. Your other two makes three.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
You're just being difficult now.  
  
HENRY BLACK I'm trying to explain the situation.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
You're doing a lousy job.  
  
HENRY BLACK I'd like to see you do better.  
  
Clark again interrupts.  
  
CLARK  
  
Can I ask you several questions then?  
  
HENRY BLACK Ah, see that? He's learning. Go right ahead, Clark.  
  
CLARK  
  
What is this place?  
  
HENRY BLACK You mean you don't know?  
  
CLARK  
  
Not really.  
  
HENRY BLACK Well, why not?  
  
CLARK  
  
I don't.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Well, how'd you get here?  
  
CLARK  
  
I don't really know "how" exactly. I was.  
  
Now Henry Black interrupts.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
You don't know how?! Get a load of him! He doesn't know!  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
Give him a break, will ya? He's just asking you a simple question. Just answer the poor guy.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Okay, okay.  
  
Henry Black looks up at Clark, subverting his amusement for the time being.  
  
HENRY BLACK You. are here.  
  
CLARK Here?  
  
HENRY BLACK ::nods:: Here.  
  
CLARK  
  
Could you be a little more specific?  
  
HENRY BLACK Specific how?  
  
CLARK Where's here?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
What do you mean where's here? Here is where you are. There was a point when you were not here, you left that place, and now you're here.  
  
Henry White makes a move using one of the white chess pieces.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
Check.  
  
Henry Black looks at the board, a newly developed furrow in his brow.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Hmm. Didn't see that coming.  
  
CLARK  
  
Maybe I should rephrase the.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Shh. One second, Clark.  
  
Henry Black deliberates for just a few seconds longer than last time before making his move. with one of the white chess pieces.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Your move.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
Wait a minute! You can't do that. That's one of my pieces.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
But I'm you.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
So?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
So, that makes it one of my pieces too.  
  
Henry White goes to argue, but is ultimately left to grumbling under his breath when he can't think of a counterpoint. He goes back to thinking on his next move.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
::grumbling:: Now you're just making the rules up as you go.  
  
Henry Black turns his attention back to Clark, but not before smiling wryly in Henry White's direction.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Okay, so what were we talking about? Oh, that's right, here.  
  
CLARK  
  
Right. What is this place?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Well, I guess that would depend on your perspective. Where we are now is really just defined by where we were and where we're going to. Though, I suppose the beginning and the end are always the easy parts. It's the path that connects the two that gets a little confusing. So, I guess to answer your questions, you have to ask yourself where were you and where are you going?  
  
Clark thinks a moment.  
  
CLARK  
  
I was at the old Cabot Farm looking for my Dad. I found this blue flame and, when I tried to get to it, there was a bright flash of light. The next thing I knew, there was this big ball of fire just hovering in mid- air.  
  
HENRY BLACK ::nods:: A portal entrance.  
  
CLARK A portal?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
It's used to transport things, in your case people, across great distances.  
  
CLARK  
  
I got pulled inside. That's when I found myself here. This place, it's like a big maze. I feel like I've been wandering around for hours.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
You probably have been, although, time is sort of a subjective thing in here.  
  
CLARK  
  
So, you're saying I'm inside this portal?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
You are on the path, which is exactly where he wants you to be.  
  
CLARK Who?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Fate.  
  
CLARK  
  
Fate? Is that a person?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
::nods:: Doctor Fate, a very powerful and very dangerous mystic who would like nothing more than to see you live out the rest of your days wandering around in this godforsaken labyrinth of his.  
  
CLARK But why? I don't even know this Doctor Fate.  
  
HENRY BLACK Because, Clark, he knows that your stories, yours and his, are intertwined. He knows that where yours is just beginning, his has reached its twilight. Where your story begins, his must end.  
  
CLARK Why?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Who's to say? That's just how these things happen. But he believes that as long as he can keep you on the path he can continue to avoid his destiny, because as long as you're on the path, you're neither at the beginning nor are you at the end. That's why he's setup this little playhouse for you. and me. There's always a beginning and there's always an end. just like there's always an entrance.  
  
CLARK  
  
And always an exit.  
  
Henry Black nods.  
  
CLARK What are you doing in here?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
::smiles:: That's actually a slightly more involved question than you probably know. You see, I'm not actually here.  
  
CLARK  
  
You're not?  
  
HENRY BLACK No. What you see before you isn't the Henry that you've come to know and love, not at all. You see, that Henry is actually an entirely different person than I, and he.  
  
Henry Black motions across the table at Henry White.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
.used to be. I wouldn't expect you too. You see, my real name isn't Henry Jones.  
  
CLARK  
  
It isn't?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
::shakes head:: My true name is Henry King, and I, not too unlike yourself, was blessed with some rather extraordinary abilities in life.  
  
CLARK  
  
::worried:: I don't know what you mean.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Oh come now, Clark, there are no secrets here. I know who, and what, you are and I know where you're from. I know everything about you, which is probably even more than you know yourself. It's also how I know about your powers. Unlike you, however, I was slightly less discrete with my abilities. I became overconfident. I felt as if I was invulnerable. I was wrong.  
  
CLARK  
  
Fate?  
  
HENRY BLACK ::nods:: Very perceptive. As I said before, he is very powerful and he could simply not accept that there were those in this world with power to rival his. That is why he stripped my mind clean, separated my identity from my body, and shattered it into a million pieces, scattering the remnants about the labyrinth . That is why you see two of me here and will undoubtedly encounter more of me as you make your way through this maze. I am very literally my own best friend.  
  
CLARK  
  
What are you exactly?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
I am a piece of a much larger puzzle, as is my counterpart here.  
  
CLARK And the Henry I know?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
The Henry Jones you know is merely the shell of my former self, a new identity implanted within him by some of the more ambitious psychiatrists at Arkham Asylum in Gotham City. My mind wiped clean, my body was sent there for rehabilitation. After four years, I was released with a clean bill of mental health to the care of my foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Jones. Unfortunately, Henry Jones remains unaware of his past, and his rather unlimited potential, and so has been condemned to live out an all too normal existence in the not-so-normal town of Smallville.  
  
CLARK  
  
Then, he doesn't know what Doctor Fate did to him?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
He is completely unaware of the crimes against his soul, though, I suppose that is for the better. I, however, remain constantly aware of the trials of his life through the last shred of mental telepathy I managed to salvage from Fate's otherwise quite efficient raping of my mind.  
  
CLARK  
  
I'm sorry.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
It's not your fault, Clark. Besides, it seems you have qualms of your own with the much beloved Doctor Fate.  
  
He understands Henry Black perfectly.  
  
CLARK  
  
Fate has my father?  
  
It was more a statement of fact than a question.  
  
HENRY BLACK ::nods:: He is holding your father prisoner on the other side of the portal. The only way you can save him is if you find your way through the labyrinth, past the mystic's illusions, and find the portal exit.  
  
CLARK  
  
Then, there is a way out?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Of course there is. I've seen it. well, part of me has seen it, anyway. I'm not exactly sure which part, anymore. It's been so very long. I'm sure you'll run into me, or him as it were, along the way, though. Find the right me, and perhaps you might be able to convince him to you find the way out. Of course, Doctor Fate will undoubtedly do his very best to make things all but impossible for you along the way. Just remember, there is always a beginning and there is always an end; not even Fate can change that.  
  
CLARK  
  
If you found the exit once, why didn't you leave yourself?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
What would have been the point? I am incomplete and I've no body to return too. I've already met my destiny. Yours. yours is still very much before you.  
  
Henry White goes to move one of the black chess pieces, sparking Henry Black's notice.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
What are you doing?  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
I'm making my move.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
You can't do that. That's one of my pieces.  
  
Henry White grins, thinking he's smart.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
But I'm you.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Right, but it's not my turn.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
But. you're me. and it's my turn.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Well, if I'm you, and it's your turn, that means it's my move.  
  
Henry Black makes a move with one of the black chess pieces.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Checkmate. I win again.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
But. No! Wait a minute. You. You're cheating!  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
How am I cheating?  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
::angry:: You're making up the rules as you go!  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
You're just mad because you lost. again!  
  
Henry White stands up out of his chair and, in a fit of rage, slaps the remaining pieces of the board onto the floor.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
This is why nobody wants to play with you, because you cheat. All you care about is winning, and as long as you get to make up the rules, you get to win every time!  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
I can't help it if you're all sore losers.  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
Sore losers?! Go to hell!  
  
Henry White turns and walks away from the table.  
  
HENRY BLACK Where do you think you're going?  
  
HENRY WHITE  
  
Anywhere but here! You'll just have to find someone else to play with. I'm leaving.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Fine! Leave then! I didn't want to play with you anymore anyway!  
  
Henry White storms off and disappears around a corner, retreating into the labyrinth.  
  
HENRY BLACK Honestly, I never knew I had the capacity within me to be such a crybaby. Well, Clark, it looks like it's just you and me. Care for a quick game?  
  
Thoroughly taken aback by the confrontation, Clark shakes himself a bit to snap himself back into the moment.  
  
CLARK  
  
Maybe. some other time?  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Oh, that's right. You probably want to start looking for you father. Well, that's understandable. I suppose I could probably just sit here and play by myself.  
  
Henry Black merely glances at the board the pieces, including those from the floor, magically reappear in their starting positions. He moves one of the black pieces.  
  
HENRY BLACK  
  
Can't say it's very much fun, though. I've played enough of these games to know my every move. If you do decide you're up for a game, do feel free to come back, though. I don't think I'll be seeing myself for a while after that tantrum.  
  
CLARK  
  
Aren't you going to help me find my way out?  
  
Clark waits for an answer that never comes as Henry Black sits, by himself, moving both the black and white chess pieces about the board in succession. Intent on the game, it's as if he suddenly completely oblivious to Clark even being there.  
  
Frustrated, confused, and a little angry, Clark takes a preparatory breath before turning the corner and moving deeper into Doctor Fate's Labyrinth. 


	8. f8

INT. DOCTOR FATE'S LABYRINTH  
  
Clark turns a corner in the labyrinth and finds himself looking out on a long, straight, corridor that seemingly spans infinitely out in front of him. Frustrated, he looks back the way he came, silently wondering to himself whether or not to commit himself to such an awesome track. Taking a deep breath, he shakes his head, bits the inner part of his lip, and darts down the Infinite Corridor at super speed.  
  
After several long seconds of blazing down the corridor, appearing no closer to any sort of end than when he first started running.  
  
JAY GARRICK You're going the wrong way.  
  
CLARK  
  
What?  
  
Clark screeches to a halt almost instantly, but still a good twenty yards passed the source of the quotation; a middle-aged man wearing blue jeans and a red long-sleeve shirt with a yellow lightning bolt down the center. The man leans with his back up against the left wall as he reads the "Midwestern Gazette" newspaper, the banner headline at the top of the front page reading "Student Rushed to Hospital After Freak Lab Accident".  
  
He looks up from his paper and rather nonchalantly calls out to Clark.  
  
JAY GARRICK ::loud:: I said, you're going the wrong.  
  
Clark utilizes his speed once more and almost instantaneously appears a few feet away from Garrick, who shrugs, lowering his voice to a slightly more conversational level.  
  
JAY GARRICK . way.  
  
CLARK  
  
Who are you?  
  
Jay smiles, more out of obligation than anything else, and folds the newspaper up, slipping it under his arm. He shakes Clark's hand.  
  
JAY GARRICK Jay Garrick, fastest man alive. Pleased to meet you.  
  
CLARK Clark Kent.  
  
JAY GARRICK ::unimpressed:: Yeah, I know. Listen, kid, I hate to break it to ya, but you're going the wrong way. You're not going to find what you're looking for down that way.  
  
CLARK  
  
How do you know what I'm looking for?  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
I don't, but whatever it is you're not going to find it down that corridor.  
  
CLARK  
  
Why not?  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
Because there's nothing down that corridor.  
  
Clark takes a brief look.  
  
CLARK  
  
Dead end?  
  
JAY GARRICK ::shakes head:: No end, at all.  
  
CLARK  
  
It goes on forever?  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
'Fraid so.  
  
Jay motions off to the side where only a few feet away, despite the fact that Clark ran for several seconds at lightning fast speeds in the opposite direction, sits the same corner he turned to enter into the corridor. He does a double take.  
  
CLARK  
  
But I. I was. How is that possible?  
  
JAY GARRICK Because, it doesn't matter how far you go or how fast, kid. If you're going the wrong way, you're going nowhere fast, especially in here. Take it from me.  
  
Frustrated, Clark throws his arms up in the air.  
  
CLARK This is unbelievable! I'm never gonna get out of this place!  
  
JAY GARRICK ::nods:: Probably not.  
  
CLARK  
  
Doctor Fate trap you in here too?  
  
JAY GARRICK In a manner of speaking. We had a little falling out, he and I.  
  
CLARK  
  
A falling out? You two were friends?  
  
JAY GARRICK I don't really like to talk about it.  
  
CLARK  
  
Oh.  
  
An uneasy pause in the conversation.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
Let's just say this is Fate's little morbid way of teaching me a lesson and leave it at that.  
  
CLARK Okay.  
  
Another pause.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
Yeah. anyway, if you're looking for the portal exit, you have to go back the way you came, only this time make a left at the end of the curved corridor. That'll get you back on track.  
  
Jay takes the newspaper out again, unfolds it, and sits down against the wall. He starts reading.  
  
CLARK  
  
Wait, you know the way out?  
  
Jay shrugs his confirmation.  
  
CLARK If you know the way out, why don't you get yourself out of here?  
  
JAY GARRICK ::laughs:: Who do you think 's waiting for me at the exit?  
  
Clark takes only a second to answer.  
  
CLARK  
  
Fate.  
  
JAY GARRICK Right, and every time I get anywhere close he just does that crazy voodoo thing he does and sends me right back here. So, I figure what the hell, I might as well get comfortable.  
  
Clark thinks quickly on what to say.  
  
CLARK  
  
What if I come with you this time?  
  
JAY GARRICK And how exactly is that going to make any difference? You're just a kid.  
  
CLARK You'd be surprised what I can do.  
  
JAY GARRICK Not likely.  
  
Clark smiles devilishly, but Jay doesn't impress easily.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
I know all about your powers, kid. They won't make a damn bit of difference against Fate, not in his Labyrinth. He'll zap us both right back here just like he's done a hundred times to me before.  
  
CLARK  
  
So, you're not even going to try?  
  
JAY GARRICK Nope.  
  
Clark's jaw clenches as he starts to get impatient, and a little angry.  
  
CLARK  
  
Just a second ago you were willing to let me go and face Fate alone!  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
If you want to continue your exercise in futility, why should I get in your way? Besides, you'll learn just like I did, no matter what you do, no matter how far you get, he's still gonna be there at the end. He's not gonna go away and there's nothing you can do about it.  
  
CLARK  
  
Oh, so I might as well just give up, is that it?  
  
JAY GARRICK I never gave up. I just accepted my.  
  
Garrick laughs at his own choice of words.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
I accepted my fate.  
  
CLARK  
  
Well, I'm sorry, but I don't have that luxury. Doctor Fate kidnapped my father.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
I'm sure, if that's the case, that your father is perfectly fine.  
  
CLARK  
  
That's not the point!  
  
Clark goes to say something but bites his tongue.  
  
CLARK  
  
Can you at least tell me how to get there?  
  
JAY GARRICK ::shakes head:: It's much too far to just tell you. I'd have to show you.  
  
CLARK  
  
Then show me. You don't have to come with me at the end, to face him, but will you at least help me get there?  
  
HENRY RUNNER  
  
No, he won't.  
  
Clark and Jay both look up to see Henry, in running shorts, shirt and shoes, running up to them from down the corridor. He gets to them and put his hands on his knees, desperately gasping for air.  
  
HENRY RUNNER  
  
::out of breath:: Because he promised he'd take me.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
I never promised you that.  
  
HENRY RUNNER  
  
::out of breath:: Yes, you did. You promised. if I beat you in a race. you would take me to Fate.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
::sarcastic:: Yeah, 'cause you came so close that last time.  
  
HENRY RUNNER  
  
::out of breath:: On your feet, Garrick. We're goin' again.  
  
Garrick hangs his head and shakes it, begrudgingly getting to his feet. He leaves the newspaper on the ground.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
This is pointless. You haven't even come close to beating me, and you're never going too. If you spent half as much energy trying to find your way out of here that you've spent trying to beat me, you'd probably have found your way to Fate on your own by now.  
  
Henry stands up next to Garrick, taking up a footrace starting position.  
  
HENRY RUNNER  
  
I don't even care anymore. I just wanna beat you, now.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
::sighs:: Not gonna happen.  
  
HENRY RUNNER  
  
And "when" I beat you, you're gonna take me to Fate just like you promised.  
  
JAY GARRICK Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just get this over with.  
  
CLARK  
  
Wait a minute.  
  
Garrick and Henry both look back at Clark.  
  
HENRY  
  
What?  
  
CLARK  
  
Can I get in on this?  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
You want to race?  
  
CLARK  
  
Yeah. But if "I" win, you take "me" to Fate.  
  
Garrick seems intrigued by the offer. Henry just laughs.  
  
HENRY RUNNER  
  
You're kidding, right? You can't beat him. This guy's like a speeding a bullet. No one can catch him.  
  
Clark smiles and stretches out his legs a bit.  
  
CLARK  
  
Well, then I guess I'll just have to be faster than a speeding bullet.  
  
Clark finishes stretching and steps up on Henry's opposite side, readying himself to race.  
  
CLARK  
  
That is, of course, unless you don't think you can beat me.  
  
Jay smiles wryly and nods, readying himself.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
All right, kid, you got yourself a race. Let's see what you got.  
  
All three prepare three prepare to race.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
I'm gonna enjoy this.  
  
CLARK  
  
I don't think so. I'm afraid you don't know what you've gotten yourself into, old man.  
  
JAY GARRICK Neither do you, kid.  
  
HENRY RUNNER Go!  
  
The newspaper lifts wildly in the updraft as both Jay and Clark tear away from the starting line at blazing speeds, leaving poor Henry lagging far behind at lamely human speeds.  
  
Clark first appears surprised to see Jay toe to toe with him in a straightaway leg race. The two exchange polite smiles as Clark pulls slightly ahead.  
  
Continuing down the infinite corridor, the walls on either side of Clark begin to change shape, periodically jutting inward on either side. Both Clark and Jay dodge the obstacles expertly, zig-zagging their way passed them, with Clark maintaining a slim lead.  
  
Before long the floor adds a second element change to the course ahead, solid hurtles periodically jumping up in front of the two speed demons. Clark hits one with the toe of his left foot, stumbling only slightly but enough for Jay to gain ground and catch up. Neck and neck, they shoot each other another quick smile as the hurtles and wall obstacles grow even denser in front of them.  
  
THUD!  
  
Clark spins almost completely around, somehow managing to maintain stride, after colliding with yet a third obstruction in the course, a large plain white spheroid hovering in mid-air at several varying levels. Between the changing wall contours, the hurtles, and spheroids the Infinite Corridor has turned into a virtual obstacle course in which Jay Garrick takes a commanding lead.  
  
Coming along the last stretch of course, Clark kicks in the last gear, gradually gaining speed and pulling up alongside Jay. Slowly, with the two of them neck and neck, the obstacles begin to disappear and the corridor returns to being a long straightaway as they speedily approach the finish line.  
  
Clark looks over at Jay with a determined look on his face. Jay looks back at him, equally determined but, oddly, a big grin etched across his face. Raising his hand, Garrick shakes his index finger back and forth over at Clark before kicking it up a notch and darting forward, easily pulling ahead of Clark as they come to the finish line.  
  
Jay Garrick easily defeats a young Clark Kent.  
  
Clark, actually out of breath, looks up at Jay who's barely even broken a sweat. Jay smiles at him and shrugs, like a father who just showed his young son he'd been letting him win at their games out in the backyard. Clark is utterly shocked.  
  
CLARK  
  
::out of breath:: You beat me. I can't believe you beat me.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
You're fast, kid, but you're not that fast.  
  
CLARK  
  
::out of breath:: So. I guess this means. I'm on my own, then.  
  
JAY GARRICK Hey, a deal's a deal. Whadaya want me to tell ya?  
  
CLARK  
  
::angry:: Right. Fine. Then, let's go again, right now.  
  
Clark takes up position to start a second race.  
  
JAY GARRICK Again?  
  
CLARK  
  
I want a rematch.  
  
JAY GARRICK ::shakes head:: No. No rematches, kid.  
  
CLARK  
  
You gave Henry a rematch.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
Yeah, and look at where it's gotten him. You want to end up like him? That poor kid doesn't even want to leave anymore.  
  
CLARK  
  
Again you're telling me to give up. Well, I'm not going to do that.  
  
Clark gets angry and steps right up into Garrick's face.  
  
CLARK I'm going to find my way out of this place, whether you help me or not!  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
And then what? You're outmatched, kid, you're out of your league. You're just going to have to face the facts, you're never going to find your way out of here and you're never going to see your father again!  
  
CLARK  
  
I will!  
  
JAY GARRICK Fate will be there waiting for you and he's just going to send you right back here!  
  
CLARK  
  
I don't care.  
  
JAY GARRICK There's nothing you can do about it, every time, he never stops! You just don't get it! It doesn't matter what you do, or how much of yourself you give to the cause, how determined you are, or how good you are. It never goes away. It never stops! You'll just have to deal with it!  
  
Garrick's rant is passionate but it's almost like he's not even talking about Fate anymore. Clark, infuriated, doesn't catch it.  
  
CLARK  
  
Neither will I.  
  
All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a calm rushes over Clark and his shoulders ease. Still very much defiant and strong in will, his anger has all but completely subsided.  
  
CLARK . and Fate will just have to deal with that.  
  
Clark turns from Garrick, boldly, and starts walking away from him. Oddly, though not surprisingly, the corner back into the labyrinth is only a few feet away. Clark turns the corner and disappears back inside Fate's maze.  
  
Garrick considers Clark's words for a moment, before hanging his head.  
  
JAY GARRICK  
  
Yes. They will, won't they?  
  
Jay closes his eyes and smiles, as if Clark somehow left his sense of calm back for Jay to grasp onto. Opening his eyes, he laughs a bit to himself and nods to no one in particular.  
  
JAY GARRICK I understand. I'm ready to go back now.  
  
A bright white light in the shape of an ankh opens up on one wall of the corridor in front of Garrick. Standing tall, puffing out his chest, he walks toward the light.  
  
JAY GARRICK And they'll just have to deal with it.  
  
The light swallows Garrick up and disappears, leaving an empty corridor behind. 


	9. f9

INT. LEXCORP PLANT - LABORATORY OFFICE  
  
Calling it an office would be along the same lines as calling a broom closet the janitor's quarters. Basically a large, sterile, room with a desk and some computer servers, the lab office's lone decorative consists of a single painting hanging on the wall behind the desk; an American Indian adorning a buffalo skin, hunting a buffalo that has strayed from the rest of its herd. The Indian appears famished, weathered by age, a desperate tear in his eye as he stalks the great animal, a single spear concealed within his cloak.  
  
Lex has long since quit struggling against the strappings binding him to the chair. Instead, he gazes through the office's lone window at Dr. Victor Fries and his father as they converse with each other a few steps to the side of Mercy. who apparently has not given up the struggle just yet. After a few seconds, Fries nods to Lionel and turns to the table behind him, filling a syringe full of some unidentifiable clear liquid. Despite the room being sound proofed, Lex could swear he hears Mercy scream as Fries injects her with the liquid in the side of her neck. Her eyes roll back and her head slumps lifelessly forward.  
  
Fries and Lionel talk a bit more as Victor lays the syringe down on a nearby table, picking up a clipboard in its stead. Glancing at his watch, Fries nods to Lionel and the two part ways, Fries toward the Static Life Chamber and Lionel toward the office. Lex bites his tongue and carefully glares at his father through the window.  
  
Lionel steps through the office door, an odd smirk etched into his jawline. He closes the door behind him and turns, standing still as he admires his son in the chair. He takes a breath and bites the inner part of his lip before speaking.  
  
LIONEL  
  
How are you feeling?  
  
Lex remains silent.  
  
LIONEL I only ask because I've been told that the administration of the serum is not always a painless experience. In some rare cases, certain patients have undergone severe musculature swelling.  
  
Lionel steps passed the window as Lex eyes him from the chair. Lionel steps behind the desk.  
  
LIONEL  
  
The pain is apparently likened to what one might feel when undergoing acute depressurization. It very literally feels as if you're blood is pushing against your skin. in one collective effort to erupt outward in every direction. or so I've been told. I can't imagine what must feel like.  
  
Lionel sits down behind the desk in the desk chair.  
  
LEX It's all somehow poetic to you, isn't it? How does it feel to be above reproach?  
  
LIONEL It has its advantages. Although, in the end, it is a burden I would not wish on my own worst enemy.  
  
LEX  
  
And yet you manage to wield it like a sword. and thrust it on your own son. Tell me, exactly how many people did you have to bribe to get the dogs off your doorstep?  
  
LIONEL  
  
It's a Federal matter now, Lex. As you can imagine, in these very harrowing times where terrorism runs rampant throughout the world like a plague on all of humanity, the safety and security of our great nation is of paramount importance. We regret having to keep the operation a secret, but one can understand why we thought it necessary. to protect the highly sensitive work that was being done at our facility.  
  
LEX  
  
And what would that be exactly?  
  
LIONEL  
  
I'm sorry, Lex, I'm afraid that information is confidential.  
  
LEX ::rolls eyes:: Right.  
  
LIONEL  
  
It was not my decision to keep it from you, Lex. It was simply a matter of national security. LuthorCorp was proud to offer its services to the American Government, and proud to perform its patriotic duty.  
  
LEX  
  
I suppose I'll just have to take your word on that.  
  
LIONEL  
  
There is greater reason in knowledge than there is in judgment. It is easy to draw conclusions. It's hard to face the truth.  
  
LEX  
  
And what is that?  
  
LIONEL  
  
That certain men are above reproach because not even the lie can deny their importance. They will be envied by learned men for days to come because the casual falsehoods we relish in are never as transparent as they are in our own hearts.  
  
LEX  
  
You're no hero.  
  
LIONEL What is a hero? John Barth once said that, "Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story."  
  
LEX  
  
::nods:: You're certainly that.  
  
LIONEL I will save lives.  
  
LEX  
  
You poisoned thousands of people.  
  
LIONEL  
  
It was necessary.  
  
LEX ::angry:: Necessary?!  
  
Lex stares at him in a state of sheer disbelief.  
  
LEX  
  
Necessary?!  
  
Lex's angered astonishment at his father's revelation suddenly, and morbidly, switches to an abrupt bout of. amusement. Lex breaks out in a hysterical laughter, his face and bare head turning a bright purplish red.  
  
LIONEL  
  
::confused:: Why are you laughing?  
  
LEX  
  
::laughing:: You are positively, undeniably, insane.  
  
Lex's eyes tear up he laughs so hard.  
  
LEX  
  
And you can't even see it.  
  
Lionel shakes his head disappointedly.  
  
LEX  
  
You know what you are.  
  
Lex struggles to breathe, practically hyperventilating himself.  
  
LEX . You're that guy who, on his way to work every day, passes by a homeless man on the street and hands him half your donut. and you feel good about yourself the rest of the day.And when you go home every night, you take great pride in thinking to yourself that that homeless guy must say to himself every day, "That guy's the only guy who really cares about me." Meanwhile, you're the son of a bitch who drove the poor bastard's family out of business and put a strip mall.  
  
Lex pounds his feet on the ground, shaking in the chair, as he let's out several resounding belly laughs.  
  
LIONEL "If you haven't the strength to impose your own terms on life, you must accept the terms life offers you."  
  
LEX ::nods:: T.S. Eliot. Here, I've got a good quote too. "If you sprinkle when you tinkle, be a sweetie and wipe the seatie!"  
  
LIONEL  
  
::annoyed:: These are serious times, Lex.  
  
LEX  
  
Here. Here. I've got another one. "Behind every good man, there is a woman. and behind her is another man staring at her ass."  
  
LIONEL  
  
::under breath:: And he calls me insane?  
  
Lionel waits for Lex to stop laughing, which takes several good long seconds.  
  
LIONEL  
  
Are you quite finished?  
  
Lex takes a deep breath and sighs, looking up at his father.  
  
LEX  
  
No, but you are.  
  
LIONEL  
  
I beg your pardon?  
  
LEX  
  
Well, it seems to me I've got you dead to rights. With the lockdown initiated, the police undoubtedly have the entire plant surrounded by now, and the security cameras have the whole thing on tape. I'm a little surprised, I didn't count on you making it this easy on me, but I'll consider it a late Christmas present.  
  
Now, it's Lionel's turn to laugh.  
  
LIONEL While I hate to deprive you of your moment of rare jubilee, I'm afraid your faith in the stalwart captains of law and order known as the Smallville Police Department is markedly misplaced.  
  
Lex's smile gradually fades.  
  
LEX  
  
They're not coming?  
  
It was more of a statement than a question.  
  
LIONEL  
  
It seems they are under the impression that this lockdown was scheduled in advance to test some new security and safety measures recently installed in the plant's interior. Being of the twenty-four hour variety, I'm guessing they're going to be slightly delayed for your tastes, son.  
  
Lex is beaten again, and he knows it.  
  
LIONEL  
  
And that being said, I'm not particularly worried about the security cameras either. If I could orchestrate all this, it's not really much of a stretch.  
  
LEX  
  
All right then, let's get to the point. What do you want?  
  
Lionel hesitates just a moment before replying.  
  
LIONEL  
  
Hm. Have I ever told you the story of when you were eight years old and I took you to the Metropolis Opera House to see the opera "Rigoletto"? It was not halfway through Gilda's "Tutte le feste al tempio" when a little voice rung out from the balcony, "Get to the point already."  
  
Lionel smiles proudly.  
  
LIONEL  
  
Naturally, we were heckled out of the theater and consequently asked not return, but you were right. It was mind-numbingly long winded and at such a juvenile age that was something you could simply not put up with. The finer art of a story being told in its entirety as opposed to simply being advanced was beyond your capability. You were an impatient child, Lex, and you are an impatient man.  
  
LEX  
  
What. do you want?  
  
LIONEL  
  
You have no idea how much it has pained me to see you suffer, son.  
  
LEX  
  
You are the reason I suffer.  
  
LIONEL  
  
No, I am not, but I am a part of it. I am not the cause, but I am responsible. For that, I am sorry.  
  
Lex scoffs.  
  
LIONEL  
  
I did not want it to come to this, but you left me with no other choice. I knew you would not sit down with me after what has happened between us. You no longer trust me, your own father, and you have no reason too. That is why I am here, Lex. I am here to give you reason once again.  
  
Lex thinks for a moment, then looks up.  
  
LEX  
  
I've loved. truly loved. two women in my life. I've read and I've been told that that kind of passion is a rare and powerful thing. Yet, when I look at you, I can't help but think of how weak I was, how impotent I was because despite how powerful my love for them was, my hatred for you is infinitely stronger. There is nothing you could say, or do, that will ever change that.  
  
LIONEL  
  
I don't believe that's true.  
  
LEX  
  
Well, that's just the thing, Dad. Your belief is not required to make it true. If you're looking for forgiveness, you've come to the wrong place.  
  
LIONEL I've done many things that I'm not proud of, Lex. I will undoubtedly do many more. I am a man of faults, which is something rare for me to admit. to anyone. Yet, because of this, I know that everyone else in this world must have faults as well. I consider myself a strong man, for the most part a good man.  
  
Lex scoffs again. Lionel continues pretending he didn't hear it.  
  
LIONEL . and if I am capable of such things, so are others. You speak of forgiveness. I understand the meaning of forgiveness. I understand that, as a people, we must forgive each other of our faults and our misgivings.  
  
Lionel diverts his eyes.  
  
LIONEL  
  
I do fear, however, there is one thing that I could never forgive.  
  
Lionel looks up to stare Lex straight in the eye.  
  
LIONEL  
  
. Betrayal.  
  
Lionel scrutinizes Lex's reaction a moment before continuing.  
  
LIONEL And I do not think that you could either. It is simply too great a sin. It is a violent, wretched, detestable act of personal malevolence. It is the most deplorable of acts and something I can never accept. I suspect that neither can you.  
  
Lex contemplates what his father is telling him.  
  
LIONEL  
  
I am here, son, because it is time for you to know the truth. It is time that the shroud be removed from over your eyes and the light of truth to be seen.  
  
Lionel stands up from behind the desk and walks over to the wall near the window. He flips a switch and the window gradually darkens to reveal that it doubles as a television monitor.  
  
LIONEL I have always loved you, son, but I have lied to you. I have lied to you to protect you, but I can not go on with this life knowing that you hate me. It is time for father and son to unite against something worthy of such power.  
  
Lex, admittedly curious as to where his father is going with all of this, watches the screen as Lionel moves back to the desk and presses a button embedded in the desktop. Flickering on, the screen shows a still image of the LuthorCorp Private Airlines at night.  
  
LIONEL  
  
This footage was taken by various surveillance cameras I had setup around the airline prior to the night of the crash. I think you'll find it of particular interest.  
  
Lionel presses another button on the desktop and the video rolls forward.  
  
Four large airline hangars all sit in a row, each one slightly smaller than the next. The LexCorp helicopter comes into the picture from off screen, plummeting directly towards the largest one, at a ninety degree angle to the row of hangars.  
  
The side door explodes from the helicopter, straight outward, just as the flying machine collides with the top of the hangar and erupts into a hideous fireball. Slowly, the door makes a controlled rotation to bring it parallel to the ground. Clark, holding an unconscious Chloe in his arms, rides the door like a surfboard, skipping down off the tops of each successively smaller hangar like a stone skipping across the top of a lake.  
  
Lex stares at the video in amazement as a new camera displays its view of the scene. Seen in the distance skipping off the top of the last hangar, Clark tightens his grip around Chloe as he prepares for the sudden drop to the ground below. Amazingly, he manages to maintain the skid as he hits the runway, sparks flying out behind him as the metal door grinds against the pavement.  
  
Doing his best to sacrifice his body for her, Clark holds Chloe tightly as they slam down to the ground after being tripped up by a row of runway lights embedded into the pavement. Their momentum continues to send them rolling forward, several feet, before finally coming to a stop.  
  
The video slows down to a crawl as, in the distance, Clark peels himself off the pavement and gets to his knees. Zooming in and re-focusing once, twice, and a final third time, the surveillance camera gets a clear view of Clark's face and pauses.  
  
Lionel turns his attention away from the window monitor to gauge his son's reaction. Lex stares at the screen, eyes wide.  
  
LEX  
  
How. How is that possible?  
  
LIONEL  
  
It's not possible. for a human.  
  
Lionel presses another button on the desktop and the image of Clark's face is replaced with that of Colonel Kalib donning the white Kryptonian military garb. There is someone standing next to him, but it is unclear who.  
  
COLONEL KALIB AS JOR-EL The first stage of the unification process is the subjugation of the planet and its people. It's a matter of survival. We will be relying on you to lay the first stones in the path. You are the future of Krypton, Kal-El. You were born to rule. That is where your true greatness lies.  
  
The playback is subject to some rather creative editing of pieces used from Clark's interrogation at the hands of Kalib, but its affect is clear. Lex stares on in utter horror as Kalib slowly turns in place to face the man standing beside him. Clark Kent. 


	10. f10

INT. DOCTOR FATE'S LABYRINTH  
  
An incredible mass of bodybuilder weights lifts up into the air and then back down again as an impressively hulked up Henry bench presses well over 300 pounds, more than twice his own body weight.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Seven... Eight...  
  
Stepping around yet another turn in the labyrinth, Clark finds the source of the counting, not to mention grunting, and clanging together of metal plates.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Nine...  
  
Henry comes down and tries to push up for ten, but barely makes it half way before the bar starts back down.  
  
CLARK  
  
Henry!  
  
Clark rushes to help Henry before it comes down on his neck, almost effortlessly lifting the bar back onto its restraints with one hand.  
  
Henry lays there for a second on the bench, bright red, breathing heavily and infuriated.  
  
CLARK  
  
Are you all right?  
  
Henry's nostrils flare and he lets out an enraged scream from the pit of his gut, erupting from his prone position and all at once dismounting and toppling the bench and free weights over.  
  
Clark has to quickly jump out of the way to avoid being clipped by one end of the benching bar.  
  
HENRY STRONG Bloody weakling!  
  
Taking a deep breath, holding his knees with his hands, Henry takes a moment to compose himself before looking up at Clark.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Sorry, Clark... didn't mean to flip out on ya like that. I didn't get ya, did I?  
  
Clark looks over his shoulder as the last free weight spins to the ground like a quarter.  
  
CLARK  
  
::shakes head:: No, you didn't get me.  
  
Henry lets out a gruff sigh and shakes his head as he starts cleaning up his mess.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Pathetic... Can barely even bench twice my body weight. How the heck am I ever gonna push that thing? What I wouldn't give for one lousy protein shake right about now.   
  
Henry looks up at Clark as he frees bench from the weights that toppled on top of it. He turns it upright.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Do you have any idea how hard it is to build muscle without the proper diet? It's true what they say, you know. If you don't eat right, you can exercise all you want, you hit that wall and... BAM... You're just not going to get any bigger.  
  
Henry turns his attention skyward.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
But heaven forbid any chickens should come waltzing in around that corner.  
  
Henry goes back to cleaning up the weights.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Or we get a freaking pond with some freaking fish in it. No, barbells, that he gives me. You want a tuna on toast? Well, that's just too damn bad.  
  
CLARK  
  
You know you should be more careful. You're lucky I came around when I did. You could've really hurt yourself.  
  
Henry laughs as he picks up the bar and lays it back on the bench unit.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Yeah, right, like he'd let that happen. Fate would never risk letting anything happen to his favorite pet lab rat.  
  
Henry pauses and thinks for a minute.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Although, I might've been stuck under that bar, at a fairly odd angle I might add, for longer than I'd care to think about. I guess I should thank you for that.  
  
Henry laughs again.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
You know, in here, I never get tired, I never get old, I never get hungry, I never get thirsty... I'm a regular, every day, run of the mill immortal...  
  
Henry walks up to Clark with a dark, almost sinister, expression on his face.   
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
But do you know what it's like, Clark? Do you know what it's like to lift up a weight that's just a little heavier than what you can handle, have it slowly bear down on you, coming closer and closer to your neck as your arms shake under the strain? There's that one instant, that one moment of realization, that second where you have just long enough to realize what's coming and that there's nothing you can do about it. You think you're strong? You think you're powerful? That's power, Clark...  
  
Henry picks up a barbell by his feet and shows it to Clark.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
It's the power of an insignificant mass of molecules, smashed together to form a dead lump of metal, to shut off a human soul in the blink of an eye, like the flip of a switch, or the press of a button. Then, you give in. You're just... overpowered. That weight comes smashing down on your neck, crushing the flesh and snapping the bone.  
  
Henry shrugs.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Nope, it's not a comfortable feeling at all. Had it happen to me once...  
  
Henry starts replacing the weights on the benching bar.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
I was stuck under this damn bar for weeks.  
  
CLARK  
  
Weeks?  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Well, I told you. I don't need food, no water, blah blah blah... I was stuck underneath it after trying to lift a little more than I could handle. It all came crashing down on me, SQUISH!  
  
Henry makes a squishing sound.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
I actually had to wait for my muscles to start shrinking again. As soon as my chest got small enough, I could slip underneath the bar thanks to these puppies.  
  
Henry motions towards the large, fifty pound, plates on the benching bar.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
They propped it up for me. I'll tell you, though, those were not fun times. I'm never going to let that happen again.  
  
CLARK How long have you been lifting weights?  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Eh, long as I can remember, long as she's been there...  
  
Henry motions over Clark's shoulder to another corridor off-shooting the one they're in.  
  
CLARK  
  
As long as who's been where?  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
The hot blonde in the bathing suit and cape.  
  
Clark looks confused and Henry picks up on it as he finishes locking the plates on the benching bar.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Oh, you haven't met her yet, have you? Oh well, you're in for a treat then, let me tell you. She is smokin'! Woo! And, oh yeah...  
  
Henry puts out his hands in front of his chest, cupping them inward, obviously hinting that the woman is generously proportioned.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Va... Va... Voom. If you get my picture.  
  
Having finished cleaning up, Henry sits back down on the bench and prepares to start over.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Heck of a temper, though, that one. You see, ever since she got here, no one's been able to get through the doors.  
  
CLARK What doors?  
  
HENRY STRONG Don't worry, you'll know 'em when ya see 'em. They're big freaking doors. Unfortunately, they're locked.  
  
CLARK  
  
Then how do you get passed them?  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
You tell me. How do you unlock a big freaking door?  
  
Clark thinks for a moment...  
  
CLARK  
  
A big... freaking key?  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
You betcha, buddy, the only problem is she won't let anyone near it. That would be a problem.  
  
CLARK  
  
She's some kind of guard?  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Nah, Fate threw her in here just like the rest of us, but she's got this, like, complex or something. I don't know what it is. She insists on doing it herself. Ya see, the key's so big that it's on wheels. Ya gotta push it, but she don't want no help.  
  
CLARK Well, she's not going to have a choice. I have to get through those doors.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
Well, you can take that up with her. I already tried once and she didn't take too kindly to it. I know better than to try again.  
  
Clark laughs.  
  
CLARK Is that why you're bulking up?  
  
HENRY STRONG Heck no, son. I just figure she's gonna get tired at some point.  
  
CLARK ::nods:: And then you'll push it yourself.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
::laughs:: Right, like I could ever push that thing. It's like a tragillion pounds. But when she gets tired and goes to lay down, I intend to be laying next to her, ya feel me, playa?  
  
Henry winks at Clark and lays back down on the bench. Placing his hands back up on the bar, he grabs a hold and pushes upward.  
  
HENRY STRONG  
  
One... two...  
  
Clark shakes his head and heads for the corridor. 


	11. f11

INT. DOCTOR FATE'S LABYRINTH  
  
Clark turns the corner and immediately freezes, mid-step, his eyes transfixed on what lies in front of him. Expanding up and to the sides, thousands of feet in each direction, is an enormous set of ivory, crystalline, doors. They don't so much shine as they do glow with a soft, ephemeral, pulse. If the gates of heaven were doors, these would be them.  
  
CLARK ::nods:: Wow, that's a big freaking door.  
  
Shaking himself free of his initial awed trance, Clark turns his attention to another point of interest, an incline in the path of the labyrinth which reaches its apex at the base of the doors and leads down to an equally massive, and impressive, golden key. In the shape of an arrow, the key is held up on an old Roman style base with four wooden wheels, obviously meant for ease of transportation, as if moving anything so massive could ever truly be easy.  
  
Walking over to the key, Clark finds himself dwarfed by the much larger structure. He surveys the base.  
  
CLARK Big door... big key.  
  
KAREN STARR I told you to back off!  
  
Clark turns just in time to catch a brief glimpse of the fist before it slams into his jaw, sending him hurtling backwards. Slamming to the ground, eventually sliding to a halt on his back several feet away, Clark rubs at his cheek while simultaneously trying to shake the cobwebs free from his head.  
  
CLARK  
  
Ow... That hurt.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
Lesson learned. And unless you want a second helping, stay... down!  
  
As massive as are the doors before him, the woman now standing defiantly between Clark and the key is every bit as beautiful. Although not particularly large in stature, her pure white catsuit shows off her compact, yet severe, physique. Though ravishing, night sky blue eyes and golden thread hair, she exudes power in a way that even the rarest beauties could not accomplish without an inner strength of character. Adding more of a uniform-esque quality to her ensemble are a pair of blue gloves and boots, matching the color of her eyes, and a blood red cape that so wraps over her shoulders it almost gives the appearance of a cloak.  
  
Surprisingly, she's not actually even really paying attention to him. Turning her back to Clark, as he looks up at her from the ground, she steps up to the key and, placing both hands against the base, summons all her strength in an attempt to push it up the ramp. Not surprisingly, it doesn't move.  
  
CLARK  
  
I'm sorry...  
  
Clark pushes himself onto one knee and then up to his feet. He swallows and tightens his stare, trying to deny the intimidation factor stemming from the ease at which such a small woman previously flattened him.  
  
CLARK ... but, I can't do that.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
And just who the...  
  
Frustrated, her face red from her exerted effort, she turns back at him in a rage which immediately melts from her face at her first real glance at him. She instantly recognizes Clark Kent.  
  
KAREN STARR ... Clark?  
  
Her back arches slightly as the air whimpers out of her from between her lips, as if she'd just been punched in the stomach. Slowly, she approaches him, eyeing every bit of his face meticulously, her eyes shooting back and forth in their sockets. Coming within a few steps of him, she pauses, lifting her hand to reach out and touch his face, but pulling back as if forcing herself to wake up from a dream.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
Is it really you? You're so...  
  
CLARK Do I know you?  
  
She smiles and for a brief second the rigid lines in her forehead withdraw their stranglehold on her solid expression.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
Of course you know me, I'm...  
  
She catches herself. Like a candlelight slowly being suffocated away, the smile fades from her face and is replaced with a deeper sadness. She turns away.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
I'm Karen Starr.  
  
She turns her attention back on the key, pushing again at the base.  
  
CLARK I'm sorry, I don't remember you.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
No, I don't suppose you would.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
I'm sorry about cleaning your clock, there. Had I known...  
  
She stops pushing for a minute, diverting her eyes to the ground. Shaking her head, though, she quickly refocuses her efforts on the key.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
I didn't mean to hit you. I thought you were that twaddle, Henry.  
  
Clark shrugs and steps up next to her, slightly farther away than arm's reach.  
  
CLARK  
  
It's all right. I can take a punch.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
I guess you can, but then I didn't hit you hard. I thought you were Henry.  
  
CLARK  
  
Oh, I see...  
  
He doesn't buy it.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
What are you doing in here anyway? No, wait, let me guess. Fate?  
  
CLARK Doctor Fate kidnapped my father.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
He did what?!  
  
She looks at him with eyes wide. She seems genuinely surprised.  
  
CLARK  
  
He's holding him at the end of the labyrinth. I need to get passed those doors.  
  
Clark moves passed her and moves to help her push the key, but she stops him, literally pushing him back.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
I can't let you do that.  
  
CLARK  
  
Why not?  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
I can't have you help me. This is something I have to do on my own.  
  
CLARK My father's life is at risk. I have to get through.  
  
Her temper flares up again. Apparently, it doesn't take much to light a fire under Karen Starr.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
I want to get through there just as badly as you do, but there's a lot more at risk here than you know.  
  
She turns away from Clark and back toward the key, not so much ignoring him, moreso because she simply can't bring herself to look at him.  
  
CLARK All the more reason to let me help.  
  
KAREN STARR ::loud:: No!  
  
A thunderous gong rings out as she slams a quick right jab into the back of the golden key. Perhaps she was telling the truth when she told Clark she had held back when she hit him. Taking several deep breaths, she composes herself before continuing.  
  
KAREN STARR No. I have to do this on my own.  
  
CLARK Why? Why is that so important?  
  
KAREN STARR Look, I don't expect you to understand.  
  
She finally turns back to look him in the eye. Standing next to each other as they are, it's almost laughable that someone Clark so dwarfs could have laid him out like she did.  
  
KAREN STARR You don't know me and you don't know my life. A lot of people are counting on me being able to do this... and I will. I'm going to prove that wizard wrong and, when I do, I'm going to ring that bloody bell on his pin-head.  
  
She gives him a quick nod, as if to put an exclamation on the end of her sentence, then turns back to the key.  
  
Quickly bored with simply staring and watching her exercise in futility, Clark reaches out with his hand to aid in the pushing, but it's quickly slapped away. Again he tries, and again receives an abrupt slap for his efforts. This goes on several more times before she turns to him and presents him with the dirtiest of all looks and several silent threats courtesy of an upturned lip.  
  
CLARK  
  
I'm going to help you whether you like it or not.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
You can't help me if you're unconscious. Don't make me hurt you.  
  
After a short stare down, she turns her back to him, and continues trying to push the key.  
  
Opting for a more indirect approach...  
  
CLARK  
  
What did you mean when you said there's more at stake here than I know?  
  
She ignores the question.  
  
Her efforts still yielding less than results, Karen gives the key a quick kick before backing away from it to catch her breath.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
Before, I could've gotten this damned key up that hill without breaking a sweat, but now look at me. That old mystic's mocking me, just because I'm not as strong as I used to be.  
  
Clark rubs his jaw.  
  
CLARK You seem pretty strong to me.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
I'm going to get this key up there, and I'm going to do it on my own and no one... and I mean no one...  
  
She looks right at Clark.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
Not even you... is going to stop me.  
  
She goes back to pushing.  
  
CLARK  
  
That's where you're wrong.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
You're going to try and stop me?  
  
CLARK  
  
::shakes head:: No.  
  
KAREN STAR That nose-wipe, Henry?  
  
CLARK  
  
You are.  
  
Frustrated, she rolls her eyes at him.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?  
  
CLARK  
  
You're never going to get it up there by yourself and you know it.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
Why? Because I'm a girl?  
  
She scoffs at him and goes back to pushing.  
  
KAREN STARR You underestimate me.  
  
CLARK  
  
No...  
  
He walks around to her side to get in her face.  
  
CLARK Not because you're a girl, because it's really really big... And if you can't get it up the hill, you're never going to get to Fate.  
  
She looks over at him briefly. He may be getting through to her.  
  
CLARK Now, look, I can help you get it up there, I'm pretty strong myself, ya know.  
  
She has no choice but to grant him that much.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
I know.  
  
CLARK Fate has my father. Now, once we're through the door, Fate is yours. I don't care what you do with him, I'm only here to get my dad back. Tear him apart, fold him up, make him into a human paper airplane for all I care, but you're no closer to even budging that thing, much less getting it up the hill, than when you started. I'm not going to just sit idly by while you settle the score with that chip on your shoulder. The fact of the matter is that I want to get through that door just as much you do and right now your stubborn ego is in my way.  
  
Her eyes widen as she turns to face him down.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
Is that what you think? This isn't about ego or pride!  
  
CLARK  
  
Then, why won't you let me help?  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
Because you're not going to be able to help me anymore!  
  
Clark takes a step back at the outburst.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
You don't understand. This is about responsibility, my responsibility. It's about stepping up and carrying the load that no one else can because someone has too. What would the world be without...  
  
She stops herself. Again she finds herself diverting her eyes, unable to even look at him.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
Someone has to step to the forefront. Someone has to be 'the one'. I'm strong enough...  
  
It's a statement of declaration, but it sounds more like an argument... but who is she trying to convince?  
  
KAREN STARR ... at least I used to be.  
  
Regaining her composure, she straightens her back and puffs out her more generously proportioned features, now visibly trying to exude the confidence that was once inherent.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
But now, I have to be. That's why I have to do this. That's why I have to get that key up the hill on my own... because someone has to be the one to do it.  
  
Stepping away from her speech and back to her task at hand, she goes back to pushing at the base.  
  
With so much information to take in and no real context in which to take it, Clark turns back to basics.  
  
CLARK Look, I need to...  
  
Clark simply rests his hand on the wooden base of the key and immediately it starts to roll. Quickly he pulls his hand off, like pulling it from a fire, and the key immediately stops, even rolling back a bit back down the incline.  
  
Surprised, both Clark and Karen step back from the key.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
What did you do?  
  
CLARK  
  
I didn't do anything.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
You obviously did something.  
  
CLARK No, I didn't.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
Yes, you did.  
  
CLARK No... I didn't.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
Yes... You did!  
  
CLARK  
  
All I did was put my hand on it.  
  
Slowly, Clark mimics his previous move, merely resting his hand on the base of the key. It doesn't move. He even tries pushing at the base, but it remains stationary as a statue. Impatient, Karen moves to help him and, immediately, the key starts to roll. Once again, out of sheer surprise, the both of them jump back, releasing the key from their hands and watching as it rolls back into place at the bottom of the incline.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
All right, what's the deal? Why'd it move?  
  
The wheels in Clark's head slowly turn as he gently rests his hand on the base.  
  
CLARK Put your hand on it.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
What?  
  
CLARK  
  
Just do it.  
  
She simply lays her gloved hand on the base and the massive key begins climbing the incline once again. She immediately pulls her hand off it and it stops and rolls back into place.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
I was barely even touching it.  
  
CLARK  
  
It doesn't matter.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
What doesn't matter?  
  
CLARK  
  
It only started rolling when we were both pushing at the same time.  
  
It takes several seconds for it to sink in, but when it finally does, Karen sighs heavily.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
::shakes head:: I hate magic.  
  
CLARK  
  
There's always a trick.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
It's no trick. It's a joke... on me... Doctor Fate's not so subtle homage to teamwork.  
  
She throws her hands into the air and walks away from the key.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
::loud:: Okay, I'm not stupid. I get it. Teamwork is awesome, it's a wonderful thing. I've learned my lesson. Can I go home now?  
  
She turns around and waits for nothing in particular. When nothing comes, she shakes her head out of frustration.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
::under breath:: He just doesn't get it.  
  
She rolls her eyes, now appearing almost sad, and looks back at Clark.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
It's just not that simple... but it is.  
  
CLARK Come on... let's get that door open.  
  
Clark turns back to the key and starts to push, expecting Karen to come and help. Behind him, though, she simply crosses her legs and sits down.  
  
Clark turns around and is surprised to see her sitting.  
  
CLARK  
  
What are you doing? Why are you sitting?  
  
She doesn't answer him, her eyes beginning to well up.  
  
CLARK We can move it. I need your help.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
To everything, there is a beginning and an end... and a path that bridges the gap between the two.  
  
CLARK Not this again.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
That's what he told me before he threw me in here.  
  
CLARK  
  
Fate told you that?  
  
KAREN STARR ::nods:: I didn't know what it meant when he first said it. I was too busy thinking about snapping his scrawny little neck.  
  
CLARK  
  
And now you'll get your chance. All we have to do is...  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
Do you believe in the end of the world, Clark?  
  
It takes a second for the question to even register in Clark's mind. What a question.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
If there is a beginning and an end to everything, there must be an end of the world. It just fits, like all things in nature. Do you believe in Doomsday, Clark?  
  
Clark reflects on the brutal memories unleashed by Kalib's interrogation, the sight of seeing his home planet of Krypton exploding.  
  
CLARK I guess I do.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
I never really ever gave it a thought... until it came.  
  
Her voice is suddenly very quiet, very sad.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
::nods:: There is strength in numbers, Fate was right about that.  
  
Karen flexes her hands and watches the muscles in her forearms expand and contract.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
But there's a greater strength in faith.  
  
She looks as if she's about to cry.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
I used to be so strong, Clark. But what am I without my power?  
  
A hint at her Power Girl moniker.  
  
Clark thinks for a moment as she looks up at him, her eyes begging at him for some comforting response, some kind of encouragement, some kind of answer. After a long while, when none comes, she simply dips her head down and silently cries.  
  
He walks over to her, and stretches out his hand to her. She looks up him from behind her tears.  
  
CLARK  
  
You're the one person who can help me.  
  
She looks up at him and at his hand. Sniffling, she dries her eyes and looks up into his.  
  
CLARK  
  
Please, Karen... I need your help.  
  
Smiling, she lays her hand in his and all at once standing up and wrapping her arms around him, she buries her head in his chest.  
  
Clark doesn't know what to do, or say, and simply does the noble thing by returning the hug, wrapping his arms around her.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
I'm going to miss you, Clark.  
  
Finally, she lets go of him and steps back.  
  
CLARK  
  
Miss me? I just met you.  
  
She smiles and motions over his shoulder.  
  
KAREN STARR  
  
The door's open.  
  
Clark looks behind him and the massive doors, and key, have been replaced by a painted white, normal sized, single door that's open only a few feet away. Confused, Clark looks back to find Karen gone, only the twists and turns of Fate's maze staring back at him. 


	12. f12

INT. SALEM TOWER – CHAMBERS  
  
Lana folds her arms across her chest and turns angrily back toward Fate who sits comfortably in his throne. Behind her can be seen the image of Clark proceeding through the labyrinth appearing as a projected image against a hovering ball of faded gas.  
  
LANA  
  
Your plan isn't working. They aren't stopping him.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
What makes you think they were meant to stop him, young one?  
  
LANA  
  
You're wasting my time, mystic! He must not reach the end.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
As I have told you before, if it is his destiny to do so, then he will. There is nothing I can do to stop him. I can only slow him down. You claim he is not ready. So far, that supposition would seem suspect.  
  
Lana turns her back to Fate in disgust and looks at Clark as he wanders aimlessly through the labyrinth.  
  
LANA  
  
What did she mean?  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Much was said. You will have to be more specific, child.  
  
LANA  
  
What did she mean when she was talking about the end of the world?  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
The end can mean so many things.  
  
LANA  
  
But what did she mean?  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
To everything, there is a beginning and an end and a path that bridges the gap between the two. Where young Clark is just at the beginning of his journey, she is at the end.  
  
Lana turns back around, looking up at Fate in the throne.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
The portal is a place out of time. She wasn't talking about the end of this world. She was talking about the end of the journey. She was talking about Doomsday. 


	13. f13

EXT. LEXCORP PLANT HELIPAD - DAY  
  
Lionel Luthor stands off to the side of the helipad, his hands in his pockets to keep his coat from flapping terribly against the beating blades of the slowly descending mechanical behemoth. Half a foot before touching down, the side door to the military helicopter slides open. A mountain of a man dressed in terribly bland, solid, army fatigues steps out followed by Lieutenant Shull who, in comparison, is quite ornately attired in a well decorated uniform. Another guard follows Shull out of the helicopter. Curiously, neither guard is armed.  
  
LIONEL  
  
Lieutenant Shull...  
  
Half a greeting, half a statement of surprise; Lionel steps forward to meet Shull.  
  
LIONEL I was hoping General Drake would...  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL Where is he, Luthor?  
  
Lionel escorts Shull and the two guards across the helipad and down a flight of metal stairs. At the bottom of the staircase is a large door.  
  
LIONEL He's inside. I currently have him restrained.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
He did not believe you. Why, then, are you wasting our time with this?  
  
LIONEL He has his doubts, which are understandable, and reasonable. I had my doubts at first too if you'll recall, but I believe you and your General have found that your patience with me ultimately led to quite the favorable partnership. I assure you, you will find the same of my son.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
I had better. Our patience only runs so deep. The General has already had to delay his plans once because of you. He won't do it again. I, for one, do not see why your son should be of any importance to us.  
  
Lionel stops in front of the door, at the base of the steps, and turns to face Shull, making a point to look the man in the eye.  
  
LIONEL He is important to me and that makes him important.  
  
Shull raises an eyebrow.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
We shall see.  
  
They enter the plant. 


	14. f14

INT. LEXCORP PLANT - LABORATORY  
  
Lex, still tied to the chair, taps his foot impatiently as he spies a droplet of dribble run down the side of Mercy's cheek. He tries getting her attention.  
  
LEX  
  
::whisper:: Mercy... Mercy...  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Your associate has enough tranquilizer currently coursing through her veins to sedate a small mountain lion. She won't be waking up any time soon.  
  
Victor walks passed Lex, a clipboard in hand, and steps over to the Static Life Chamber where he opens up a large compartment in one of the computer consoles next to the main chamber. Inside the compartment, a glowing chunk of meteor rock sits in the center of a series of distribution nodes directly connected to the main chamber.  
  
LEX  
  
Meteor rock?  
  
Fries takes down several readings from a nearby computer monitor, making several minor alterations to the Kryptonite nodes.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
The radioactive properties of the rock allow for the subjugation of momentum on the sub-atomic particles.  
  
LEX  
  
Oh... Right.  
  
He pretends like he knows what Fries is talking about.  
  
LEX  
  
I suppose my father supplied you with all you needed. He's somewhat of a meteor rock aficionado, as it were. He collects them... probably sleeps with them.  
  
Lex stares carefully at Fries who, for the most part, seems to be ignoring him.  
  
LEX  
  
I don't know what my father promised you, but you can be sure that whenever he gets what he wants, and you're no longer of any use to him, he'll betray you... just like he's betrayed everyone else.  
  
Fries remains silent.  
  
LEX  
  
Look at me. I'm his son for god's sake and look at what he's done to me.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Whether you know it or not, your father cares about you a great deal, Lex. He cares about what happens to you.  
  
Lex scoffs.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
It's true. You're all he ever talks about.  
  
LEX  
  
And what does my father say when he talks about me?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Oh, he speaks of how proud that he is of you. He says how his son, Lex Luthor, will do great things in this world, command great respect and power. And he speaks of how worried he is for you.  
  
LEX  
  
Worried? About me?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Why, yes. He feels you are soft. As you grew up, from just a small boy, he chose to learn you in his image. It was his desire to mold you into a man of strength, who could handle the responsibility of one day carrying on the Luthor legacy that he would leave behind... but, there is a part of him that feels he failed you in that regard. "My son is strong," he told me.  
  
Fries finally makes a point of looking up from his clipboard and over at Lex. He speaks slowly and deliberately, making a point of pronouncing each and every syllable of each and every word.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
"But he often lets his emotional attachments get the better of him. In a world where business is lethal, one cannot afford to allow personal regards to stand in the way of what must be done."  
  
Lex and Fries stare into each other's eyes, a silent conversation between the two on top of the verbal one.  
  
LEX  
  
Is that what he said?  
  
Fries nods.  
  
LEX  
  
Well... a man can hardly deny his feelings. Sometimes things my father would see as a weakness, such as compassion, can go a long way... even in business.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Indeed they can.  
  
LEX I'm glad you agree.  
  
CLANG!  
  
The door at the top of the large metal staircase swings open. Lionel Luthor, ever the showman, looks down on the lab, and his son, a proud smile deeply engraved into his face. Behind him, Lieutenant Shull followed closely by his guards, steps inside.  
  
LIONEL As you know, Lex, I am a man of many resources.  
  
He makes a point of emphasizing the "-sources".  
  
LIONEL  
  
Allow me to introduce you to one of them.  
  
Shull looks over the lab, surveying the occupants and equipment like he might a row of troops before a battle. He doesn't seem all that impressed either.  
  
Fries and Lex share an anxious glance.  
  
After escorting the men down the staircase, Lionel quickly steps between Shull and Lex in the chair.  
  
LIONEL  
  
Of course, I wish this meeting could have been under slightly more cordial circumstances. Nonetheless, it is nothing short of academic that one day historians from all nations will see this momentous meeting of the minds in the same light as the first acquaintance between Churchill and Roosevelt...  
  
As Lionel delivers his speech, Shull and his two guards walk passed Fries who pretends not to be listening. One of the guards steps particularly close to the open compartment with the exposed Kryptonite, its glow shining across some exposed skin under his rolled up sleeve. Curiously, under the soft green hue of the Kryptonite's shine, his otherwise pale skin appears almost black with several severe markings vaguely resembling scales. Once passed the compartment and exposed Kryptonite, however, his skin tone returns to its normal pastel peach.  
  
LIONEL ...the first sail down the Nile between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra...  
  
Shull and his guards come to a stop in front of Lex and Lionel.  
  
LEX  
  
...The first time Bonnie and Clyde robbed a convenience store.  
  
Lionel clears his throat, looking up at Shull to gauge the man's reaction.  
  
LIONEL  
  
I should think that you would take this situation more seriously, Lex, considering the implications.  
  
LEX  
  
I do. It's you who I don't take seriously.  
  
Lionel ignores the quip.  
  
LIONEL  
  
This is Lieutenant Pendleton Shull of the United States Department of Homeland Intelligence.  
  
LEX  
  
You'll forgive me if I don't get up.  
  
Lex fidgets a little in the chair.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
Release him. I will not speak to him like this.  
  
One of Shull's brutish guards steps around the chair and unties Lex from the chair. Lex quickly gets to his feet, only briefly rubbing at his wrists. Just for fun he makes a move like he's going to throw a punch at Lionel, then, just laughs at him when his father flinches.  
  
Lex offers Shull his hand to shake.  
  
LEX  
  
I like you already.  
  
Shull keeps his hands at his sides.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
That does not concern me.  
  
LEX  
  
::shrugs:: And what does concern you exactly?  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
Privacy.  
  
They all look over at Fries, except Shull who would just as soon lend his attention to a fly on the wall. Fries quickly closes the compartment and gathers up his clipboard.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
I am almost ready to begin. I should tend to Nora.  
  
Victor leaves through a door hidden behind the Static Life Chamber. Everyone waits to hear the door shut behind him.  
  
LEX  
  
So, Lieutenant... My lunatic father here tells me that you think my best friend is an alien from outer space bent on world domination. I take it that nice little clip show he showed me was yours. Nice work. PowerPoint was it?  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
The video your father showed you was obtained by one of my operatives.  
  
LEX  
  
Obtained? Would you care to be a little more specific?  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
No, I wouldn't.  
  
LEX  
  
Oh, I see. Your operatives? And being a... Lieutenant... you would have how many at your disposal exactly?  
  
LIONEL  
  
I didn't ask the Lieutenant here to be interrogated, Lex.  
  
LEX  
  
Then, you shouldn't have asked him here at all. Clark is my friend and I don't take these accusations lightly, especially from some brass lackey. What's the matter, Lieutenant, your superiors get so comfortable sitting behind their desks, pushing all the pretty buttons, their legs atrophied to the point where they can't get their fat asses out of the chair? Or is it that you just drew the short straw at the office picnic?  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
What you call accusations, others know to be truths.  
  
LEX Suppositions... they require facts to back them up.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
Facts? You require facts? Very well, Lex Luthor. A fact; every single night on this planet there are thousands of telescopes from all over the globe pointed in the direction of outer space. Some of them belong to scientists eager to etch their name in the heavens by being the first to discover a new universal body. Others are of the more amateur variety, an accountant, who bought one on eBay, taking a break from spying in on the co- ed in the apartment across the street, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of Saturn's rings, or a child playing with his new toy he got from Grandma. Regardless of who, what, or where the simple fact is that even with the vastness that is space, there is hardly a speck of dust that crosses the cosmic view that someone, somewhere, doesn't see. This is true today and it was even true fifteen years ago.  
  
LEX The day of the meteor shower.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
This is why we know that the meteor shower itself was no mere random celestial mishap, a painful but decisive blow to one unsuspecting town in Kansas, but a calculated strike. This is why we know that Smallville was much more than simply ground zero... It was target zero.  
  
It takes only a moment for Lex to process this new information.  
  
LEX  
  
You knew.  
  
Shull's silence is answer enough.  
  
LEX  
  
But, there was no warning, no...  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
Knowledge does not always precede warning. We tracked the course of the meteor fragments from when they first entered our solar system.  
  
LEX  
  
::shakes head:: No, you can't do that. You don't have the technology.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
Sixty years ago, we didn't have the technology to level a city with a single weapon of mass destruction. Do not presume to tell me what I do not have.  
  
Lex shifts in place.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
We tracked the course of the meteor fragments until they reached Earth's atmosphere, at which time our experts calculated the point of impact to be a location just north of Kirov.  
  
LIONEL  
  
Russia.  
  
LEX  
  
I guess that kind of calls your experts' expertise into question... unless you're trying to tell me that they somehow miraculously changed direction in mid-air.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
That's precisely what they did.  
  
LIONEL  
  
Something free falling rocks aren't normally capable of on their own.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
We determined that the meteors altered course once they reached our atmosphere and were somehow guided to their landing point... Smallville. Agents were sent to investigate. After several days, they came upon a meteor crash site in a field off one of the main roads. They were, however, surprised to find that there was no meteor rock at the site, simply a smoldering crater in the ground. A full investigation ensued, at which point it was determined that it could have only been caused by a vessel which had crash landed there and then been removed from the site shortly thereafter.  
  
LEX  
  
Well, of course, because that's the only natural conclusion that any rational human being might come too.  
  
Shull ignores the sarcasm.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL From that day on, Smallville very literally became a hotbed for what one might describe as strange and abnormal activity. Reports of instances in which people, who were at target zero during the meteor shower, demonstrated remarkable abilities, well beyond that of any normal human being, began surfacing. The threat of possible alien invasion loomed and the military took the necessary precautions.  
  
LEX  
  
In other words, you locked them up and dissected them.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
After an intensive series of experimentations, we determined that these individuals were not, in fact, invaders and that the nature of their abilities could be attributed to their exposure to the meteor rock itself during a time of intense trauma.  
  
LIONEL  
  
Fear of death.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
That did not, however, rule out the possibility of alien influence. We focused our investigation on the meteor rocks themselves. After several years it was determined that their low-level of radioactivity was the direct cause for the heightened abilities. It was also determined that the meteor rocks themselves could only have taken on these radioactive properties during an event of cataclysmic proportion, such as a supernova or other massive celestial explosion.  
  
LEX  
  
What does any of this have to do with Clark?  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
While direct and prolonged exposure to anyone would certainly be detrimental to their health, to any being of similar native origins as these meteor rocks any exposure at all would be toxic and potentially fatal within minutes. Therefore, a method was devised to use the meteor rocks as a type of beacon, a way to test the population for possible alien influences. An antidote was tested successfully for treated humans, but any exposure to an alien being would prove disastrous. Upon infection they would almost immediately grow deathly ill from radioactive poisoning.  
  
Lex's eyes widen.  
  
LEX  
  
Westmorland Food Distributors... The soybeans...  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
We monitored the hospitals and medical centers.  
  
LIONEL  
  
All that was left to do was to sit back and wait.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
If there were alien beings living among us, we would find them... or they would die.  
  
LIONEL Either way you look at it, a profitable venture.  
  
LEX  
  
It doesn't prove anything. We all got sick. Even I found myself bent over the porcelain a few more times than I'd care to admit.  
  
LIONEL  
  
But only Clark became deathly ill so quickly. And when Doctor Hackman distributed his so called antidote, no one else's condition improved. No one was cured, except Clark.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
We decided to assign one of our agents to the boy and had him followed. That was when we obtained the video your father showed you.  
  
LIONEL  
  
Don't you see, son? The pieces finally all come together. Tell me you haven't been suspicious of Clark Kent from the very beginning. Ever since the car accident, you've been obsessed with finding out the truth, the truth about what really happened that day. Well, now you know. Now, you know the truth. He betrayed you, betrayed your trust, lied to you.  
  
LEX  
  
And what do you call what you've been doing? You knew about this!  
  
LIONEL  
  
And I wanted to tell you, son. It pained me like you couldn't possibly imagine to have to keep this from you, but I had to know for sure. You trusted Clark, believed in him for whatever reason, and... our relationship has always been tenuous at best, strained to say the least. I had to have proof of this duplicity before confronting you, or risk losing you all together. You have always been quick to the opposition.  
  
Lionel puts his hands on Lex's shoulders.  
  
LIONEL  
  
Son, you must admit, often times it took little more than my vested interest to spark the revolutionary in you. Well, now it's time to put all that aside. We must put it behind us, Lex. Now, it's time the union between father and son be mended, healed, in time to not only save our relationship, our family... but our very way of life.  
  
LEX  
  
What role can I possibly play in all this?  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
There is a war brewing and Earth will serve as the front line. Thanks to your father, we are prepared to fight it.  
  
LEX  
  
The airline?  
  
LIONEL  
  
The official report we've released to the press, as I'm sure you've thoroughly analyzed, is that the LuthorCorp Private Airline has served as a secret underground research and development facility for the United States Armed Forces since our partnership began more than seven years ago.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
While the government has significant funding at its disposal, even more so now after the events of 9/11, it also has an exorbitant number of eyes watching very carefully where those funds disseminate. By taking out a classified defense contract with LuthorCorp, we assured ourselves... minimal scrutiny.  
  
LIONEL  
  
In the interest of national security, LuthorCorp was not only privileged, but honored to do its part.  
  
LEX I take it that the balance between the R and D on your contract is decisively towards one end of the spectrum.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
We supplied your father with the necessary design specifications and raw material.  
  
LIONEL  
  
While LuthorCorp supplied the hardware and manpower. When young Clark's friends come, we'll be ready for them.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL But, in the meantime, the threat to global security grows greater every day. The longer the alien operative is permitted to live among us, the more he learns about our society, the greater the threat becomes.  
  
LEX What do you want me to do?  
  
LIONEL Lex... You can get close to him. He trusts you, but he is not your friend. Clark Kent lied to you and betrayed you, son.  
  
Lionel pulls a chunk of Kryptonite out of his pocket and holds it out for Lex to take it.  
  
LIONEL  
  
It's time to return the favor. It's time to strike back.  
  
Lex stares at the green crystal rock in his father's hand, a decision that would change the world staring back at him. 


	15. f15

INT. DOCTOR FATE'S LABYRINTH  
  
From a height above the interminable labyrinth, a streak of light can be seen zipping through the varying twists and turns, doubling back on itself more often than not.  
  
Meeting with one dead end too many for his patience, Clark vents his frustration by slamming his fist into the latest blank wall that blocks his path. Despite the awesome power behind the punch, the wall stares vacantly back at him, mocking his supposed strength, leaving not even a hint of submission.  
  
Pacing, throwing his arms into the air, Clark looks to the tops of the walls that surround him.  
  
CLARK  
  
That's it. I'm tired of playing games.  
  
Bending down, Clark hurls his body into the air. Unfortunately, his leap proves a little too strong. He throws out his arms half a second too late as he soars infinitely higher over the labyrinth. Finally, piercing through a thin white mist, he becomes lodged in a pure white cloud several hundred feet above the massive maze.  
  
HENRY CLOWN Well, wuh-oh, El-woy. What are you doing all the way up here, Clark-o?  
  
Clark holds his arms out at either side, as if balancing himself on an imaginary tight rope. He is surprised to see Henry, dressed up as a classic circus clown right down to the red nose, meditating comfortably on a cloud only a few feet away.  
  
CLARK  
  
I... I'm flying!  
  
Henry squeezes the nose on his face. HONK! HONK!  
  
HENRY CLOWN  
  
No no no, you're not, silly face!  
  
Picking himself up, Henry gets to his feet.  
  
HENRY CLOWN  
  
You just stuck-o, boy-o.  
  
Henry bends down and, out of the mist, picks up a large, silver-spiked, mace. The end of the mace glows with an electric shimmer.  
  
HENRY CLOWN  
  
Here... Henry help!  
  
CLARK  
  
No, wait!  
  
Henry pulls the mace over his head and hurls it down onto Clark's head, slamming him through the layer of clouds and sending the future Man of Steel plummeting back down toward the maze below.  
  
SPLAT!  
  
CLARK  
  
::groans:: Ow.  
  
Peeling himself off the ground, Clark notices a long golden staff, with an almost cosmic quality to it, lying next to him. It is broken mid-shaft, a tattered blue and white mask draped over it.  
  
Beyond the staff, a young teenaged boy, well under six feet tall and scrawny (130 pounds soaking wet), wipes his own tears from the face of a young blonde girl lying prone across his lap. She isn't moving. A small droplet of blood trickles down the side of her face from her nose. Her patriotically partisan costume has been reduced to little more than ribbons strewn atop her. She is badly beaten.  
  
Behind them, a broad shouldered man stands knee deep in a four foot by six foot hole, excavating heaps of dirt from it with a golden shovel. His expression almost as square as his jaw, the man stops only momentarily to wipe a bead of sweat from his brow on his sleeve. A single, thick, yellow lightning bolt is emblazoned on his chest between a pair of vertical rows of golden buttons on his one piece, blood red uniform. A white cape with gold trim completes the familiar trademark ensemble of one of Earth's greatest heroes; Captain Marvel.  
  
A blank granite tombstone at the foot of the hole clears up any questions as to its purpose.  
  
BILLY BATSON ... Oh, say does that Star-Spangled banner yet wave...  
  
Clark gets to his feet and walks over to Billy, who looks up at Clark as he approaches.  
  
BILLY BATSON She wanted to see the other side of the mountain.  
  
Billy looks back down at the girl across his lap, brushing a stray strand of hair from across her face.  
  
BILLY BATSON Everything's okay now, Court. I've got you. You rest.  
  
Billy rocks her back and forth in his arms, but it's clear the girl is no sleeping babe.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
A torridly feeble scene, don't you think? Poor Billy Batson... His little girlfriend's all broken.  
  
Clark turns his attention to the far corner of this section of the labyrinth where Henry, this time dressed in all black with pale white skin, stands alone in the corner surrounded by several stacks of old hard-bound books. Clark walks over to him, but keeps his attention on Billy.  
  
CLARK  
  
What happened to her?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
She died. Bizarre, I would have thought that simple verity rather obvious, and yet the two of you find it a quandary. Well, I suppose that goes to the point.  
  
CLARK  
  
How did she die?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
What's the difference? Everyone dies at some point or another. Does it really matter how?  
  
CLARK  
  
Did Fate kill her?  
  
Henry smiles at him, coldly.  
  
HENRY GOTH No... I did.  
  
Clark steps back, eyes wide.  
  
CLARK  
  
You killed her?!  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
Or maybe you did it. Then again, maybe he did it.  
  
Henry motions toward Billy.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
Or maybe no one did it. It was her fate, all the pun intended. It was her end. Death is, after all, the only inescapable, unavoidable, sure thing. We are all sentenced to die the day we are born. The important thing is the way she lived, and she lived the way she wanted too; the only true and proper way. Some day some destitute author will probably write a nice book about it, make themselves famous off of it... well, maybe a comic book anyway.  
  
CLARK  
  
Comic book? You think this is funny?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
No, I don't... but it does make for interesting reading material.  
  
Henry sits down, his legs crossed Indian-style, and picks a book from one of the shorter stacks to his right and begins reading from it. It has a red and blue cover with golden yellow binding.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
I can't help it if he's incapable of moving passed what's happened any more than I can change the words on the page. Everything has a beginning.  
  
He shows Clark page one of the book, then flips through to the end.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
Everything has an end.  
  
Henry motions toward Billy.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
He seems perfectly content sitting there, wallowing in his own cesspool of self-pity. Besides, misery loves company. I like him where he is. I get to read my books in peace and I don't have anyone looking over my shoulder, waiting for me to finish. I can take my time. I can read all the books that I want. I can read all of them or I can read just the one, over and over again.  
  
CLARK  
  
What book are you reading now?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
This? Oh, this is a very special book. It's one of my favorites. Of course, when I say that, I really mean that I don't despise it quite so much as I do the others. Most of these are written by talent less hacks taking advantage of the mindless category drug addicts who whore their souls out to anything with a label and fantasy colors.  
  
Clark ignores the literary commentary.  
  
CLARK  
  
What's it about?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
It's about the greatest hero who ever lived. I've been waiting for it for a very long time, you know. You see, for a while, it didn't have any ending.  
  
CLARK No ending?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
Would you like me to read you some of it?  
  
He doesn't wait for Clark to answer.  
  
HENRY GOTH And all the skies and the heavens became like a boiling ocean, with the creatures from the dark side of the Fire Gate raining their pestilence down on the land. The people raised up their swords in the names of their homes, but were swiftly crushed by the Evil One, and his minions, and resolved to servitude. They could do nothing as their paradise became like the fierce desert and all that was theirs was taken from them.  
  
Clark kneels down, paying very close attention as Henry narrates to him.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
The people prayed to their Gods for a savior, someone to deliver them from the Evil One's oppressive hand. But they were punished for their faith as the Evil One destroyed the sun and the darkness came.  
  
The story reads remarkably similar to the one Lana read to Jonathan, but where she hesitated, Henry reads on.  
  
HENRY GOTH The Gods of the people became enraged by the Evil One's actions and the God of Life and Death was summoned forth to grant the people's request. A deliverer, El, was born. Bequeathed to a humble family of slaves, he would live among the mortals, as one of them.  
  
The name El in particular sparks Clark's interests.  
  
HENRY GOTH Fearing the God's wrath, the Evil One sought out to destroy the deliverer before his time of ascension. Knowing he could never hope to defeat the savior himself, the protection of Godly powers bestowed upon him, the Evil One waited to strike against El's heart. Blackening the heavens, blinding the Gods' sight, the Evil One would wait for the hero El to save the one who fell from the sky for the moment to strike. The burden of a hero is a heart for all, and the Evil One knew this.  
  
Henry looks up at Clark and smiles, again coldly.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
Thoroughly fascinating stuff, don't you think?  
  
CLARK Where did you get that book?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
::sarcastic:: From the library.  
  
Clark grabs the book out of Henry's hands.  
  
CLARK  
  
Let me see it.  
  
Clark quickly turns the page, but finds nothing but blank pages after the part at which Henry stopped reading.  
  
CLARK  
  
They're all blank.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
What did you expect?  
  
CLARK  
  
You told me the story had an ending.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
It does...  
  
Henry takes the book back out of Clark's hands and closes it.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
But only those of us who have reached that end can read it.  
  
CLARK You can read it?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
I can. I have.  
  
CLARK  
  
I have to know what happens.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
I can't... any more than I can change the words on the page. I didn't write it. There's nothing I can do to change it. All I can do is sit back and enjoy.  
  
CLARK I have to know. The Evil One, does he have a name? Is his name Kalib?  
  
Henry simply laughs at him.  
  
Clark gets to his feet, looking around frantically. He looks over at Billy.  
  
CLARK  
  
What about him? Can he read it?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
Oh, I'd say decidedly so, though he won't be any good to you. He won't read the end. He refuses. I keep telling him, all good stories must come to an end some time. Plus, who knows? If we're lucky... maybe we'll get a sequel.  
  
CAPTAIN MARVEL  
  
It is finished.  
  
Captain Marvel steps up out of the hole, thrusting the shovel into the pile of dirt that's accumulated next to it. Nodding, Billy dries his tears and gets to his feet. Clark watches in silence as Billy slowly carries the girl over to the hole and steps inside, gently laying her down. What happens next, though, takes Clark aback as Billy lies down next to her in the grave.  
  
CLARK  
  
What's going on?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
The end of misery is self-destruction.  
  
Reclaiming the shovel, Captain Marvel lifts a heap of dirt from the pile and throws it into the hole.  
  
CLARK  
  
What are you doing?!  
  
As Marvel goes to dump a second heap of dirt into the hole, Clark races over to stop him. He reaches for the shovel, attempting to yank it from Marvel's hands.  
  
CLARK  
  
Are you crazy?!  
  
BILLY BATSON  
  
Stay out of this, Clark!  
  
Marvel tugs at the shovel, effortlessly swinging Clark into the air and hurling him backwards. Clark's back slams violently against the unforgiving far wall of the labyrinth.  
  
Picking himself up, Clark watches as Marvel dumps another pile of dirt into the hole.  
  
CLARK  
  
I'm not going to let you do this!  
  
Bending down like a football nose tackle, Clark leans forward and super speeds toward Marvel, driving his shoulder into the man's side. Dropping the shovel, Marvel turns while being driven back, catching Clark in a bear hug while simultaneously grinding his feet against the ground to counteract Clark's push. All at once, Marvel uses what's left of Clark's momentum against him, twisting at the shoulders and kneeling to pile-drive Clark, head first, into the ground.  
  
Billy sits up in the hole and gets to his feet.  
  
BILLY BATSON You don't understand!  
  
Clark turns over and hurriedly tries to crawl out from under Captain Marvel.  
  
CLARK  
  
Why do people keep saying that?  
  
Not fast enough. Marvel grabs Clark by the neck, picks him up over his head, and drives him back down into the ground. Before Clark can recover, Marvel finishes the brief onslaught with a quick jab, slamming his fist into Clark's jaw.  
  
Marvel stands up over a more than slightly dazed Clark. Turning his back on him, he goes to pick up the shovel.  
  
BILLY BATSON I want this.  
  
Holding his head, Clark looks over at Billy from the ground.  
  
CLARK  
  
I'm not going to let you kill yourself.  
  
BILLY BATSON Why not? Look at me, Clark, I'm nothing. I'm not strong. I'm not fast. I'm not smart. Maybe if I were more like him...  
  
Captain Marvel, the golden shovel back in his hands, steps up next to the pile.  
  
BILLY BATSON  
  
I could make a difference. Maybe, if I were more like him, or you, I could have saved her. But I'm not, I'm nothing like him, and never will be.  
  
CLARK  
  
That's not true.  
  
BILLY BATSON  
  
It is true! No matter what I do, he'll always be stronger, he'll always be the hero and I'll always be nothing! All she ever wanted was to see the other side of the mountain. So, we went and we climbed that mountain, together. It was a stupid idea, I never should have gone. It should have been him. He could have saved her!  
  
Clark manages to turn himself over and prop himself up on his knees.  
  
BILLY BATSON I tried. I tried so hard... until every part of my body ached... but when that ledge gave out, I couldn't hold on. I couldn't lift her up.  
  
He flexes his hands in front of him.  
  
BILLY BATSON  
  
::crying:: My hand... and hers... I was sweating... She just slipped. I couldn't even watch. I heard her scream, and then... it was just silent. That's not the way it should have happened. That's not the way people like her are meant to...  
  
He points up at Captain Marvel.  
  
BILLY BATSON  
  
He wouldn't have let her fall! Don't you understand, Clark?! If he had been there, she would still be alive. That's why it doesn't matter what happens to me. He's the one the world needs, now more than ever. The world doesn't need Billy Batson, it never did. The world needs him. He's the greater half. He's the hero.  
  
Clark dusts himself off and stands tall.  
  
CLARK  
  
But she went with you.  
  
BILLY BATSON But I'm not the hero. I'm not the special one.  
  
CLARK  
  
She cared about you. You were special to her.  
  
BILLY BATSON  
  
And now she's gone.  
  
CAPTAIN MARVEL  
  
But I'm not, Billy.  
  
Billy looks up at Captain Marvel.  
  
CAPTAIN MARVEL  
  
And you're special to me.  
  
Clark walks over to Billy and offers him his hand, keeping a watchful eye on Captain Marvel in the process... just in case.  
  
CLARK  
  
What happened to...  
  
Clark remembers he doesn't even know the girl's name.  
  
BILLY BATSON  
  
Courtney...  
  
CLARK  
  
What happened to Courtney was a terrible thing, Billy... but it was an accident. It wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself.  
  
BILLY BATSON  
  
It just hurts so much, Clark.  
  
CLARK  
  
But you can't bury it, Billy. You may wish you had been able to hold on to her up on that ledge... but now it's time to let her go.  
  
Reluctantly, Billy takes Clark's hand.  
  
Clark Kent, Billy Batson, and Captain Marvel stand in front of the covered gravesite, heads bowed in a moment of silence before the granite stone reading "Courtney Whitmore: The Star-Spangled Kid".  
  
Henry steps up next to Clark, paying his respects.  
  
CLARK  
  
I thought misery loves company?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
It's a funeral.  
  
Billy kneels in front of the grave.  
  
BILLY BATSON I'm going to miss you, Court.  
  
CAPTAIN MARVEL  
  
As will I.  
  
Captain Marvel turns and steps behind the kneeling Billy Batson. Laying his hands on Billy's shoulders, Marvel very literally falls into the younger boy, merging with him, the two of them becoming one person.  
  
CLARK  
  
What...?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
You didn't know?  
  
CLARK  
  
How did...?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
They're the same person, Billy Batson and Captain Marvel.  
  
CLARK  
  
How is that be?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
Magic, of course. Everything in here is magic.  
  
CLARK  
  
Then, that's what he meant... That's what he meant when he said...  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
In here, he can exist as both, but out in the real world he is either or.  
  
CLARK  
  
I don't...  
  
Clark is interrupted when, out of the displaced dirt of the grave erupts an incredible beam of golden light in the shape of an ankh. All at once, it envelops Billy.  
  
CLARK  
  
Billy!  
  
Clark reaches out, but is too late. Billy has disappeared, as has the grave, and the stone. There is only Henry... and the labyrinth.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
A shame... I rather enjoyed the company. Hmm... How 'bout that? I actually did.  
  
Henry turns, leaving Clark to stare blankly at the ground. He walks back over to his pile of books and sits down, picking up the same book from before off the top.  
  
CLARK Where did he go? What was that light?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
Fate.  
  
CLARK  
  
What did he do to him?!  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
You helped Billy turn the page, so Fate no longer had any use for him.  
  
CLARK  
  
He killed him?!  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
Fate finds it amusing to send people here to suffer. You've gone and ruined it for him; helping these troubled souls to move passed their pain. Once they're able to do that, what good are they to him anymore? He is a madman after all. I've got to say, though, I've finally started to get his sense of humor. I actually find it kind of amusing.  
  
CLARK  
  
Well, I don't! I've had enough of Fate and I've had enough of this labyrinth!  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
Have you now? Then, why are you still in it?  
  
CLARK  
  
It's not like I have a choice.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
Don't you?  
  
CLARK  
  
::confused:: Well, it'd be easy if I could just click my heels together, but it's a little more complicated than that.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
Is it?  
  
Clark hesitates.  
  
CLARK Isn't it?  
  
HENRY GOTH ::smiles:: You know, this really is one of my favorite stories of all time.  
  
Henry shows Clark the book.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
I've enjoyed it so very much. I enjoyed the beginning... and the path... and the end. I especially enjoyed the end.  
  
Henry stands up, a new fire behind his eyes.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
I enjoyed so much watching you hurt, Clark... watching you seize in place as the realization that you would never see your father alive again slowly settled into that thick skull of yours. No matter how hard you tried, no matter how valiantly you strove forward, I could always see the pain in your eyes as you struggled to maintain your grasp on that last shred of hope. You're outmatched and the truth is, you have no idea what's ahead of you, but I do. I know the pain in your life, Clark, and I take great pleasure in it.  
  
Henry steps closer, coming face to face with Clark.  
  
HENRY GOTH But the truth is, there is one man's sorrow who I take an even greater pleasure in. It is his anguish, the chance to torment him, that fuels my existence, that keeps me alive. That's why, as much fun as this has been, I'm tired of it. It's time for me to feast on something... a little juicier, something with a little more meat. You want Fate, Clark? I can give him to you.  
  
CLARK  
  
How?  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
I can show you the way out.  
  
CLARK ::hesitant:: What do I have to do?  
  
HENRY GOTH All you have to do is promise me one little thing...  
  
Clark waits for the terms.  
  
HENRY GOTH  
  
Promise me you'll make him suffer. 


	16. f16

INT. KENT FARM - BARN  
  
Chloe leans on the railing leading up to Clark's loft, looking up.  
  
CHLOE Anything?  
  
PETE (voice)  
  
Nah... It's not up here.  
  
CHLOE  
  
::groans:: Well, where the heck is it? I thought you said you knew where it was.  
  
Pete comes down the stairs from the loft.  
  
PETE I thought I did.  
  
She impersonates Pete.  
  
CHLOE "I know exactly where it is. Exactly. I can see it in my mind..." Those were your exact words, brainiac.  
  
PETE Look, Mr. Kent usually keeps it right over there by the fertilizer.  
  
Pete points toward several piles of rather raunchy looking fertilizer. There's even a circular indentation in the ground next to the pile where a tire once was.  
  
PETE  
  
He's kept the spare tire in the same spot for ten years. Clark and I even used to make a joke out of it by taking it and rolling it over to the other side of the barn just to mess with his dad's head.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Nice.  
  
PETE  
  
What? We were kids.  
  
CHLOE  
  
You still are.  
  
PETE  
  
Hah! Speak for yourself. Clark and I, we're men, manly men, rugged men.  
  
He flexes his right bicep.  
  
PETE  
  
Devilishly handsome men.  
  
He winks at her.  
  
CHLOE ::nods:: And modest to boot.  
  
PETE  
  
Hey, baby, it's either Ross... or your loss. You know it!  
  
CHLOE  
  
Thanks, but I got myself one.  
  
Something in the corner catches Chloe's eye.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Hey, is that it, over there?  
  
She walks over to an enormous tire on the other side of the barn. Pete shakes his head at her.  
  
PETE  
  
Um, yeah, that's it. That's exactly what we would need... if he was driving the tractor.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Shut up... it... looked smaller from over there.  
  
PETE  
  
Sure it did.  
  
CHLOE  
  
There were shadows!  
  
PETE  
  
Uh huh.  
  
She walks by him and punches him in the arm.  
  
PETE  
  
Ow!  
  
CHLOE  
  
Oh, quit your belly aching, I didn't hit you that hard.  
  
PETE  
  
Oh, really? Well, why don't you let me wail on you a couple of times and we'll see how you like it. You know, I could report you for abuse.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Pete...  
  
PETE  
  
It'd be a hate crime, ya know. You could get time.  
  
She laughs.  
  
PETE  
  
Honestly, though, do I have punching bag tattooed across my forehead, or somethin'? First Lana, now you...  
  
CHLOE  
  
Hey, I was just kidding around. I didn't go all Richard Evans on you like Prissy Princess.  
  
PETE  
  
Who the heck is Richard Evans?  
  
CHLOE  
  
He was a famous world's shotput Champion in the sixties.  
  
She says it like it's common knowledge.  
  
PETE  
  
::shrugs:: I give up. How do you know these things?  
  
CHLOE  
  
They're called "books", Pete. It's kind of like television, only intelligent.  
  
PETE  
  
Yeah, well, at least Lana has an excuse.  
  
CHLOE  
  
An excuse? What excuse could she possibly have for trying to kill you?  
  
PETE  
  
Well, you know, the whole thing with the Scre...  
  
Pete catches himself, remembering that Chloe doesn't know about the Scream.  
  
CHLOE With the what?  
  
Pete tries to think on his feet, but can't think of anything. Luckily, a car coming down the Kent's driveway saves him from having to answer.  
  
PETE  
  
I hear a car. Do you hear a car?  
  
He walks passed her and out of the barn.  
  
PETE  
  
I think I hear a car. Maybe it's Mrs. Kent back from the store.  
  
CHLOE Wait... you didn't answer my question. 


	17. f17

EXT. KENT FARM – DAY  
  
Pete and Chloe walk out of the barn as a brand new Sheriff's police cruiser pull up and parks in the Kent's driveway. They are both surprised when Sheriff Adams steps out of the cruiser.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Sheriff Adams?  
  
The Sheriff takes off her sunglasses and hat. Her hair is almost completely silver and her face is puffier that usual, almost swollen.  
  
SHERIFF ADAMS  
  
Hello, children. I'm looking for Mr. Kent. Is he home?  
  
Her tone of voice is eerily calm.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Mr. Kent? No, he's missing... and so are you for that matter.  
  
PETE  
  
Yeah, the whole county's been looking for you.  
  
SHERIFF ADAMS  
  
Well, I'd say that some congratulations are in order for you two, then. It looks like you found me.  
  
She laughs slowly, with a stutter.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Where were you? What happened?  
  
The Sheriff all but ignores Chloe's query and reaches into her pocket.  
  
SHERIFF ADAMS  
  
Listen, children, when Mr. Kent comes back home, I wonder if you could give him something for me.  
  
She pulls a clear crystal, in the shape of a diamond but more transparent, out of her pocket. It's about an inch around. She shows no signs of the shoulder injury she suffered during the crash as she hands the crystal over to Pete.  
  
PETE  
  
What is it?  
  
SHERIFF ADAMS  
  
It belongs to him.  
  
She turns around and gets back into her cruiser. Chloe chases after her.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Wait, Sheriff!  
  
The Sheriff looks up at Chloe from inside the cruiser.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Do you have any leads on what happened to my father?  
  
Pete steps up next to Chloe.  
  
PETE  
  
... and Lana?  
  
SHERIFF ADAMS  
  
Not as of yet, but you rest assured, children... We'll find 'em. We'll find every last one of them.  
  
The Sheriff drives off, leaving Pete and Chloe confused. Pete looks at the crystal in his hand, scrutinizing it carefully. 


	18. f18

INT. LEXCORP PLANT – MEDICAL INFIRMARY  
  
Nora lies sleeping on a medical bed, a blanket pulled over her. She has looked better. Victor sits next to her, lovingly stroking her hair. He takes the thermometer from her mouth and looks at it.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
I feel hot.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
The fever has returned.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
I'm sorry.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
You are not to be sorry. There was nothing you could do. I had hoped it would not be as high, but these are things that were not meant to be.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
Victor, I want to tell you something. I do not feel like I am going to die.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
My love, I have told you, there is nothing I can...  
  
She puts her hand on his face.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
Listen to me, Victor, just listen to me. I am sick. I feel the fever. I have felt... ill for some time now, but... I do not feel like I am going to die.  
  
She looks up at him.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
You remember Annabelle...?  
  
He winces, as if in pain, at the sound of that name.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
With every breath.  
  
NORA FRIES You are a doctor... a very good one. You know the joy of bringing life into this world. You know what it is like to save a life, but you are also a man. You can never know what it is like to carry a life inside of you, to feel it grow within your body. You can't know what it is to really feel the spark of life as it comes into existence, as nature and God join together to knit a little baby inside of you. In the same way, you can't know how it feels when that spark... disappears. It's there one second, and the next...  
  
She shakes herself back into the moment.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
It is not like pain. It is nothing like pain. It is not like burning your hand against a flame, more like a person who is cold, sitting in front of a fire for warmth, and then it goes out. There is sorrow. There is darkness. There is cold, but it is not pain. It is much worse. It is death. It is a horrible thing to feel.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Nora... My Nora.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
I have felt them both, Victor. I have felt life and I have felt death. Now, I have been sick for a very long time, but it is important to me that you know, no matter what happens today, that I have never felt as if I was going to die, not once. There was never a single moment when that sense came over me again. I never once doubted that we could not beat this together.  
  
Victor takes her hand and kisses it.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
On the good days and the bad, when I felt refreshed and full of energy, and when I could not as much as stand up on my own, I was always strong in here...  
  
She takes his hand and places it over her heart.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
... because you were my strength. You are my life. You are my spark, my loving Victor.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
And you are mine... my Nora.  
  
He leans in and kisses her. 


	19. f19

INT. LEXCORP PLANT – LABORATORY  
  
The Static Life Chamber is completely empty as Victor begins powering up the machine. Nora Fries sits in a chair, looking tired, next to Lex. Mercy has been released from her chair, obviously at Lex's behest, but is still unconscious and lays prone on one of the lab tables. Lionel stands in front of that table.  
  
LIONEL  
  
Incredible...  
  
Apparently, Lieutenant Shull shares this sentiment. He steps up next to Fries.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
What exactly does it do, Doctor?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
The Static Life Chamber is capable of holding any organic or inorganic material in perfect suspended animation.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
A stasis chamber? You developed this technology on your own?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
I did.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
Impressive, Doctor. And it works?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Flawlessly...  
  
Victor looks insulted by the question.  
  
VICTOR FRIES ... in all simulations and testing.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
Have you tested it on a human subject?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
I have. I would never ask of my wife what I would not first be willing to do myself.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
But this will be the first extended trial?  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
If you'll please...  
  
Victor excuses himself passed Shull, ignoring the man's question, to get to another computer console.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
Excellent. I shall take great privilege in witnessing the results personally.  
  
That gets Victor's attention. He looks up at Shull and then quickly over at Lex, who folds his arms across his chest.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
You are welcome to stay, but be aware this is not a military project.  
  
Shull turns and walks over to Lionel.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, Doctor.  
  
Shull's guards keep close to the Lieutenant as he stands next to Lionel. Fries ultimately decides to ignore Shull's comment, or at least to wait to deal with it at another time.  
  
Victor Fries finishes inputting the proper commands into the computer interface and the main chamber door slides down in its slot. Victor walks over to Nora and takes her hand.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
My dear...  
  
She smiles up at him and stands out of the chair. She stumbles, but only slightly, hardly noticeable. He walks her over to the chamber. She steps inside and quickly studies the interior.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
Claustrophobic...  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
There is nothing to fear.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
I'm not afraid.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
When the process begins, the chamber will fill with a clear, oxygenated, liquid. It will feel like water to touch, and to taste, but you will be able to breathe even when completely submerged. Try to breathe normally.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
I understand.  
  
She nods, but a hard swallow gives away her trepidation.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
It will be cold.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
I will have your heart to keep me warm.  
  
They kiss passionately. Shull looks at his watch.  
  
Victor steps away and presses a button on the side of the chamber. The chamber door quickly rises up from its slot, sealing Nora Fries inside.  
  
Victor walks over to his computer interface terminal and sits down. He inputs several commands and the Static Life Chamber starts to hum with activity as it powers up. Nora and Victor stare at each other as the chamber slowly fills, from bottom to top, with a clear liquid. As the level of the liquid rises above her head, filling the chamber, Victor pays close attention to one of the monitors in front of him that shows her vital signs. Her heart rate is almost through the roof. She's panicking.  
  
VICTOR FRIES ::calm:: Breathe, Nora... Breathe...  
  
He stares at her from his interface terminal, calmly breathing with her. Her heart rate steadies as she adjusts. She nods to him, reassuring him that she's all right. Oxygen bubbles surround her, like she's been submerged in a bottle of shaken seltzer water.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Beginning phase two... injection of the Static Life molecule.  
  
On the console in front of him, Victor keys in several commands. Ultimately, the final command prompt reads; "Initiate Phase 2 (Y/N)?: ".  
  
He hits "Y".  
  
Instantaneously, the inside of the tank bubbles ferociously, like the jets of a hot tub suddenly firing. Nora disappears inside the bubbles as the liquid mix turns the familiar crystal blue of the Static Life solution. After several long seconds, the bubbles slowly dissipate.  
  
Nora Fries appears like a sleeping statue, her eyes shut, within the Static Life Chamber, hovering in the liquid solution, but still like in ice. Even the bubbles hold perfectly motionless around her, frozen in time.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL Impressive...  
  
Victor ferociously reads over all the data from his terminal. Lex steps up behind him, reading the results over his shoulder.  
  
LEX  
  
Well, Doctor? Was the procedure a success?  
  
Victor freezes, a rare smile finding its way onto his face.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Completely.  
  
He leans back in his chair and exhales as if he'd been holding that breath in for years.  
  
LIONEL  
  
A truly remarkable achievement, Doctor, a true testament to genius and determination in its finest...  
  
Something catches Lex's attention. His eyes widen.  
  
LEX  
  
Doctor!  
  
Victor, along with everyone else, look up at the chamber where Nora's eyes are now open, a terrified expression on her face. From her mouth, a subtle hint of red finds its way into the blue.  
  
Victor is instantaneously over the controls.  
  
LEX  
  
Doctor, what is it?  
  
VICTOR FRIES I... I don't know!  
  
LIONEL  
  
Her vital signs are beginning to fluctuate.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
I have eyes!  
  
Inside the chamber, the blue solution slowly begins to fade to more of a green, the color of Kryptonite. Inside, Nora goes from being completely frozen in place, her motion gradually speeding up, progressing from a slow motion to full speed panic. She raises her arms and pounds on the chamber door. Her muffled screams can be heard from within.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
Victor!!!  
  
Victor looks up at her.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
No!  
  
He looks back at his computer screen and quickly types in several override commands, none of which seem to work.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
There's been some sort of failure in the containment filter unit. The intermix facilitators are malfunctioning! The chamber is being bombarded by radioactive particles from the meteor rock!  
  
LEX  
  
Get her out of there, Fries!  
  
A powerful buzzing begins to build up from the power unit next to the chamber. It explodes violently, sending an outward surge that knocks over everyone in the room. Several more, smaller, surges also ignite all over the chamber's power unit as the group struggles to get to their feet.  
  
Fries manages to climb back to his console. He slams his fist down on the desk.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
I can't open the chamber door!  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
Victor! Ahh!  
  
Her blood curdling scream is enough to make a grown man's stomach turn, even slightly muted by the now red and green mix of blood and Kryptonite bombarded Static Life inside the chamber.  
  
A layer of smoke builds around the chamber from the many power surges and mini-explosions erupting from the power source.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Nora!  
  
Victor tries to get to the chamber, but several explosions keep him from being able to get close. Lex, though, takes the initiative and storms through to the emergency containment locking unit. He slams his hand against it just as an explosion sends him flying backwards against the far wall. He hits it hard and falls to the ground, unconscious, the left side of his face badly burned.  
  
Meanwhile, the door to the chamber opens and the Static Life comes pouring out.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Don't let it touch you!  
  
Victor, Lionel, Shull and his two guards quickly back away, desperately hopping up onto whatever table or desk they can find. Nora Fries steps out of the chamber like a zombie, half-frozen by a green ice.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
::scream:: Victor!  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
No... Nora!  
  
The zombie-like Nora crumbles to the ground, unconscious.  
  
Meanwhile, one of Shull's guards isn't quick enough to avoid the deluge of the Static Life. Trying to jump up on a table, he trips over a step and falls backwards, the Static Life pouring in around him. Instantly, he let's out a shriek, not a scream, that is as clearly inhuman as the sun is hot. The Kryptonite bombarded Static Life around him begins to glow and seep into his skin, which instantly mutates into a scaly brown.  
  
Seizing on the ground, the guard's already immense stature doubles in size, huge gargoyle wings bursting through the back of his uniform. Shull's eyes widen, along with his second guard's. The incredible beast stands up out of the icy liquid, holding his head and shrieking loudly. It is a creature that can only be described as a half-human, half-demon.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
By God's name...  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL It's making him crazy!  
  
Quickly, Shull's second guard jumps on the demon's back, obviously trying to snap it's neck. Almost effortlessly, the demon plucks the second guard off of it's back, by the arm, and hurls him through the metal stairwell leading back up to the only exit. The steps collapse on top of the second guard.  
  
Lex's eyes barely flutter open long enough to see the demon, his gargoyle from the night of the blackout, flying towards him from across the lab, claws outstretched. 


	20. f20

EXT. LABYRINTH CANYON  
  
Clark stands in a cave opening in the side of a pure white mountain. A rickety old rope and board bridge extends outward in front of him over an immense chasm. To one side, a liquid lead waterfall spills down from a height raised infinitely above Clark's head, forming a rapid ridden river hundreds of feet under the bridge. The river then, mocking the laws of physics, turns up a second water-"fall" on the other side.  
  
Clark strains his eyes to try and see through the mist that guards the other side of the bridge. Henry Goth stands behind Clark, waiting for him to do something.  
  
CLARK I can't see the other side.  
  
HENRY GOTH Fate's magic is strongest here. We are close.  
  
Clark steps out onto the bridge and starts making his way across. After a few steps, Clark turns around and notices that Henry isn't following him.  
  
CLARK  
  
You're not coming?  
  
HENRY GOTH Despite an inherently vested interest, I am unable to cross. Where you are going, I cannot follow. You are flesh, where I am merely... a shadow with a face.  
  
Clark pities Henry silently.  
  
HENRY GOTH But I will be watching. Just follow the bridge, through the mist, all the way to the end. There, you will your way out of this maze. There... you will find Fate.  
  
Clark nods and turns back to the bridge.  
  
The bridge becomes shakier the further along he goes. It also becomes harder and harder to see in front of him, the mist becoming more of a thick fog. Turning around, Clark can no longer see Henry on the other side.  
  
He swallows. Taking a few more steps, Clark notices the distance between each board is getting a little longer. With each step, they grow farther and farther apart until he gets to a point where he can't even see the next board through the mist.  
  
CLARK  
  
Swell...  
  
Clark considers jumping, but thinks better of it. He opts, instead, to try and use the ropes. He puts his arms over each rope and drops his feet over the last board. He waits for the ropes to stop swaying and starts shimmying his way across.  
  
SNAP! SNAP!  
  
Clark's supersensitive hearing can hear the ropes snap from somewhere behind him. His eyes widen, and he tenses his grip on the ropes as all at once he drops, swinging down and through the mist. A split second before the ropes go completely vertical, a gray stoned cylindrical tower appears through the fog.  
  
CLARK Uh oh.  
  
Clark braces for impact as the ropes swing him towards a large, blue and gold, stain glass window of an ankh over an ocean and sky.  
  
INT. FATE'S ARENA  
  
Clark explodes through the stain glass window and slams hard to the ground, a marble shiny marble surface reflecting a cosmic galaxy of rotating stars. Clark picks himself up off the ground and surveys his surroundings.  
  
The arena is circular, about one hundred feet around, gray stone walls extending from the floor infinitely upward. Five foot tall black steel torch stands are arranged, about ten circumferential feet apart, in a wide circle around the arena, carrying wooden torches that burn with a blue flame. They give off very little light, just enough to illuminate the entire floor.  
  
DOCTOR FATE (voice)  
  
To everything there is a beginning, an end, and a path that bridges the gap between the two.  
  
Clark's attention turns upward where a billowing of gray smoke snakes its way into existence from out of nothing. A loud chime resounds through the arena and a burst of golden light in the shape of an ankh pierces through the smoke. Doctor Fate, hovering in mid-air, his arm's outstretched, glides through the light, his yellow cape flowing fantastically behind him.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Clark Kent, are you ready to face Fate?  
  
Clark's jaw clenches.  
  
CLARK  
  
The question is, are you ready for me?!  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
We shall see... Taris D'una Coplatu!  
  
Fate claps his hands together, still hovering in mid-air, then throws them down to his side. Instantaneously, he replicates himself, forming a circle of Doctor Fates, all hovering, around Clark.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Let it begin!  
  
One after another, the Fate's fly down to attack Clark. The first one flies in from behind, lands a quick punch to the back of Clark's head and flies off. Then, another...  
  
Clark flails awkwardly, knocked off balance as the deluge of punches comes in from all sides. Finally, Clark grits his teeth and turns, hurling a punch that lands square against one of his adversary's chest. The Fate he hits simply puffs out of existence like a wisp of smoke.  
  
Moving faster than the Fates gives Clark the advantage. Still getting tagged from all sides, he manages enough offense to target and punch his way through another five replicas. Not after too long, there are only three remaining. One of them backs away as Clark grabs the other two, each by their golden helms, and slams them together in front of him. They instantly turn to smoke.  
  
Clark barely has enough time to stare down the real Doctor Fate when...  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Karem Tenus!  
  
Fate throws his hands out at Clark and tiny balls of golden energy shoot out from each of his ten fingers, pummeling Clark like ten high powered machine guns. Clark is immediately knocked backwards, sliding across the ground and into one of the torch stands. The torch falls over and the blue fire ignites on the ground. The marble floor literally erupts into one intense blue flame.  
  
Clark tries to get to his feet as Doctor Fate hovers above the blue flame and prepares another spell.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Karem Tenus Unam!  
  
Fate clenches his fists together and, this time, releases one giant golden energy ball at Clark. The future Man of Steel has little other choice but to roll out of the way, back towards the center of the arena and into the heart of the flaming floor. The golden energy ball touches down on the ground and ignites a fiery gold flame of its own to counteract the blue flame from the fallen torch.  
  
Clark stands up out of the blue flame, shielding his face from the beating fire. Yet, as he looks down, much to his amazement, he notices that the flames do not burn him or his clothes.  
  
Clark stands on one side of the arena, surrounded by the blue flame. Doctor Fate hovers above the other side, where the golden flame burns menacingly. Just as Clark and Fate are engaged in battle, so the fires wage war with each other in the great arena.  
  
CLARK  
  
Where's my father, Fate?!  
  
Doctor Fate ignores him and lifts his hands in the air. All the torch stands from Fate's half of the arena rise up out of the golden flame, glowing orange hot, and hover around Fate, but pointed at Clark.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Archer Rowa!  
  
Clark again uses his super speed to avoid being struck by the torch posts as they all simultaneously shoot towards him like a storm of arrows. He manages to avoid most of them, but even he isn't quick enough to dodge the last one, and it grazes across his chest, burning a hole in his shirt, and leaving a burnt gash across his chest. He cries out in pain and falls to one knee.  
  
INT. SALEM TOWER  
  
Lana watches the image of the confrontation between Fate and Clark against the smoke. She cringes at the sight of Clark's wound.  
  
INT. FATE'S ARENA  
  
Clark grabs one of the torch posts from his side of the arena and hurls it up at Fate, who rather effortlessly flies out of the way. Clark uses this to try and leap through the air and grab Fate.  
  
CLARK Fate!  
  
Fate claps his arms out in front of him.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Brevi Tronto!  
  
All at once, two stone blocks from opposite sides of the arena tear out of the wall and slam together in front of Clark. Clark slams into them at his chest and stomach, but manages to pull himself up onto the stones which remain together and hovering in mid-air. Fate continues flying higher to avoid his pursuer, clapping his hands together to bring more and more stones into Clark's path, but Clark manages to use them instead, leaping off of them, climbing them like steps, chasing Fate higher and higher up the tower.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Collabro!  
  
More and more stones begin yanking out of all sides of the walls. Clark uses some of them to keep climbing up towards Fate, blasting others apart with his heat vision and his powerful fists.  
  
Finally, Clark grabs one of the stones in mid-air, spins 180 degrees and hurls it at Fate.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Destructor!  
  
Fate barely manages to get off the spell, destroying the stone in the nick of time. The smoke and explosion phase Fate just long enough, however, for Clark to leap high into the air, higher than Fate, his fist raised and aimed for Fate's golden helm.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Gemini Protector!  
  
Fate looks up at Clark and throws his hands into the air, releasing a powerful energy beam that strikes Clark in the chest. Clark is instantly hurled backwards, slamming against the far wall. Remarkably, he slides down only a few feet before coming back down to the marble arena floor, which is no longer on fire.  
  
Fate, for his part, looks to actually be tiring. He hovers only a few inches off the ground and appears to be breathing heavily from behind his helm.  
  
Clark, not to be deterred, picks himself up off the ground and charges Fate, who again throws his hands up.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Protector!  
  
Again, the energy beam slams into Clark's chest, stopping him in his tracks. But Clark grits his teeth and holds his ground, pushing against it like a linebacker against an offensive lineman. Clark hurls his fist back and punches at the energy beam once, twice, and a third time... forcing his way forward.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
::loud:: Protector! Protector!  
  
The energy beam gets stronger, but so does Clark's determination. A step away from Fate, he throws a single punch, landing square against Fate's helm. Fate lets out a yelp and is thrown backwards, slamming violently against the far wall.  
  
INT. SALEM TOWER  
  
Lana's eyes grow wide with concern.  
  
LANA  
  
No!  
  
INT. FATE'S ARENA  
  
Fate barely has time to groan by the time Clark is on top of him. Clark, furious, grabs Fate by the chest and lifts him up against the wall.  
  
CLARK Now, where's my father, Fate?!  
  
Fate doesn't answer, breathing heavily.  
  
CLARK I said...  
  
Clark, in anger, tears Fate's helm off.  
  
CLARK Where's my...  
  
Clark cuts himself short, utterly shocked by what he finds behind the golden helm of Fate.  
  
CLARK ... father?  
  
Exhausted and out of breath, Doctor Fate, an old man of at least eighty years old, smiles back at Clark.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
What's the matter, young Clark? I thought that I fared pretty well for an old man.  
  
Clark mercifully lets him down, sitting Fate on the ground.  
  
DOCTOR FATE Please... my helm.  
  
Fate motions toward the helm Clark recently tore from the old man's head. Clark grabs it from the ground and holds it, at first offering it to Fate, but then pulling it back.  
  
CLARK My father...  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Your father is unharmed. I regret having to take him from you, but it was imperative for me to be sure that you were ready.  
  
CLARK  
  
Ready? Ready for what?  
  
DOCTOR FATE Your time of ascension. The timing must be just right. The prophecies must be fulfilled or all will be lost.  
  
CLARK I don't know what you're talking about.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Yes, you do. Of course you do.  
  
Clark thinks for a moment.  
  
CLARK  
  
Henry... The book...  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
It is the Book of The New Gods which you speak of. It tells of the many prophecies surrounding the rise of the Evil One and his subsequent downfall at the hands of the divine savior of men.  
  
CLARK  
  
El.  
  
Doctor Fate nods.  
  
CLARK  
  
You think it's me.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Don't you?  
  
CLARK I'm not a God.  
  
DOCTOR FATE What is "God" if not a title given to a great being in which men bestow their faith?  
  
CLARK Even if I believed in any of that, what does this have to do with my father? Why did you kidnap him?  
  
DOCTOR FATE I cannot tell you that... any more than I can change the words on the page.  
  
CLARK That's not an answer!  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
The prophecies foretold in the Book of the New Gods must be fulfilled if you are to complete your destiny. Things were happening too quickly. I had to be sure you were ready.  
  
CLARK ::angry:: If I was ready? That's why you threw me in that labyrinth of yours? You were testing me?!  
  
Doctor Fate shakes his head and smiles.  
  
DOCTOR FATE You presume to know a great deal more than you do, young Clark. You were not there, in the labyrinth, for your sake, but for theirs.  
  
Fate raises his arm and some smoke billows up in the air next to them. In the smoke can be seen the images of Jay Garrick, Karen Starr, and Billy Batson/Captain Marvel, the heroes Clark met with while in the labyrinth.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
It was never a test for you, but for them, fallen heroes of a different age. It was you, Clark, who had the greater affect on them. They are each members of a great team of heroes, devoted to upholding truth and justice across the globe.  
  
The smoke focuses in on Jay Garrick...  
  
DOCTOR FATE Jay Garrick, the fastest man alive, a man who'd grown tired of running the endless race between good and evil. What is the point, he would ask himself? No matter how hard we try, we can never extinguish the evil in our universe completely. It will always be there. Through your determination to get to your father, you reminded him that despite the infinite nature of the struggle, no matter how relentless evil might be, good will always be there to run one step ahead in the race. True, darkness never gives up, but neither will the light. Sometimes winning isn't about finishing first, just about staying one step ahead and never stopping.  
  
The smoke focuses on Karen Starr...  
  
DOCTOR FATE Then, there is Karen Starr, a woman whose powers once even rivaled even your own, until a great tragedy left her severely weakened. She took it upon herself to fill the void left open by the loss of... a great hero. The task was simply more than she could handle, but when you reached out to her, looked passed her failings, you showed her that, while the world may need superheroes, we are all heroes each and every time we help any person in need.  
  
The smoke focuses on Billy Batson and Captain Marvel...  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Billy Batson, the alter ego of one of the greatest heroes to ever live, Captain Marvel. Billy, a child rocked by the tragic loss of his friend and his inability to stop it, was so struck by his own guilt and pain that he tried to kill himself, believing the world better off with the hero. The grief blinded him from being able to see the truth behind what all heroes fight for... the simple fact that all life is precious and special. You helped him see that again.  
  
Clark considers what Fate is telling him.  
  
CLARK  
  
They all seemed to know who I was. They all knew me by name.  
  
DOCTOR FATE In time, all the world will know your name, young Clark. Where you are at the beginning, they are at the end.  
  
Clark struggles with the thought and stands up and paces.  
  
CLARK  
  
You're telling me I'm supposed to be some sort of savior of the world, some sort of superhero. I haven't even graduated high school yet, how am I supposed to save the world?  
  
Fate manages to get himself to his feet.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
You have already committed great acts of heroism, even in your early years. The prophecies have already begun coming true, surely you can see that. You were sent here to live among slaves...  
  
CLARK  
  
My parents are not slaves.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
You grew up on a farm. Farmers are slaves to the land. You are protected by godly powers; your strength, your sight, your hearing...  
  
CLARK  
  
I wasn't sent to Earth by a God. I was sent to Earth by a scientist who created a doomsday weapon that destroyed an entire planet.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
You were sent by the greatest Kryptonian scientist who ever lived, a God among men, who created life in you and death in his weapon. Don't you see, Clark, you are the El. You are the one the book prophesizes about. But you are right, you are still young, and it was all happening so quickly. That is why I kidnapped your father because, as long as you are on the path, you are not at the beginning and you are not at the end. I had to keep you here, to at least try...  
  
CLARK  
  
Why?  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Because the Evil One has come.  
  
Clark looks at Fate... He doesn't seem surprised by the knowledge at all.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Good... I see understanding in your eyes.  
  
Clark turns around.  
  
CLARK I've met him.  
  
Referring to Kalib.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
No, you have not...  
  
Clark, now confused, turns back around to face Fate.  
  
DOCTOR FATE ... but, you will. The time of your ascension was coming too quickly. The prophecies had not yet been fulfilled and the Evil One was preparing to strike. I had to prevent that.  
  
CLARK  
  
What prophecy?  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
"Blackening the heavens, blinding the Gods' sight, the Evil One would wait for the hero El to save the one who fell from the sky..."  
  
CLARK Blackening the heavens... The night of the blackout?  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
::nods:: You failed to save your friend.  
  
CLARK But I did save her.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Not her... him.  
  
Clark looks up.  
  
CLARK Pete?  
  
Doctor Fate nods.  
  
CLARK ::under breath:: That's why she did it.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
You are not ready. The prophecy remains unfulfilled.  
  
Clark takes a breath. He seems defeated. He doesn't want to give in. He doesn't want to believe in the prophecy.  
  
CLARK On the night of the blackout, I was with another friend. I was on a date. We flew in a helicopter to Metropolis. On our way back, the pilot put us on a collision course for an airline hangar... and jumped out. I didn't know what else to do. I don't know how to fly a helicopter. I grabbed Chloe... and I jumped out with her in my arms. I saved her.  
  
Fate looks at him, astonished.  
  
INT. SALEM TOWER  
  
Lana gazes at the image of Clark in the smoke, mesmerized.  
  
LANA  
  
It was Chloe...  
  
She hangs her head and leaves.  
  
INT. FATE'S ARENA  
  
Clark looks up at Doctor Fate.  
  
CLARK I suppose you could say, she fell from the sky... and I saved her.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Well, then... a great deal has changed.  
  
CLARK No... nothing has changed because I don't believe in these prophecies of yours. What I believe is that you still have my father and I am through playing games with you. I want him, and I want him now.  
  
Doctor Fate stares at Clark coolly, thinking to himself silently. He nods.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
I suppose that is only fair... but I have given my word to another that I would do everything in my power to keep you from doing just that, and I would never dishonor myself by going back on my word. And so, to honor you both, I give you the choice.  
  
Fate raises his hands to the side and two separate golden ankhs explode out of the darkness. They are two portal exits.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
You do not have to believe in prophecy to understand the concept of destiny. But I also believe that we must be willing to accept our destiny, and so I give you the choice to choose your path. These portal exits each lead back to the real world, but where one leads to your father, the other leads to a man who is in much greater need of your help... a man by the name of Lex Luthor.  
  
CLARK Lex?  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
I tell you now, on my word and the word of the great mystical power of Nabu the Wise, that your father is safe and shall remain under my shield. No harm shall come of him. I will serve as his protector... but your friend does not have that same luxury. At this moment, his very life is in mortal danger. You can choose the path to your father, to free him from his captivity...  
  
Fate motions with his left hand, indicating the left portal will lead Clark to Jonathan.  
  
DOCTOR FATE ...but if you do, your friend will surely die.  
  
Fate motions with his right hand, indicating the right portal will lead to Lex.  
  
CLARK Fate, you lunatic, if you hurt Lex...  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
I am not the cause of your friend's peril. I am afraid that in my older years, my power in the outside world has become more than depressed. In here is the only place I have any real power.  
  
CLARK Why are you doing this to me?  
  
DOCTOR FATE Because it is what Fate demands. Now, you must choose... free your father or save your friend's life. The choice... the path is yours.  
  
CLARK  
  
Henry was right about you. You are a madman.  
  
Clark deliberates and makes his decision. He approaches the portal to the right. Before stepping through, he takes a look back at Doctor Fate.  
  
CLARK We'll meet again.  
  
DOCTOR FATE  
  
Of that, young Clark, I have little doubt.  
  
Clark steps through the portal on the right, and the golden ankh swallows him and disappears. 


	21. f21

INT. LEXCORP PLANT – LABORATORY  
  
Lex's eyes barely flutter open long enough to see the demon, his gargoyle from the night of the blackout, flying towards him from across the lab, claws outstretched.  
  
BAM!  
  
A metal stool smashes the great beast in the face. Jarred off course, it slams into the wall, just above and to the right of Lex, and falls to the ground. The newly revived Mercy Graves calls out to Lex from atop the nearby table.  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
Get up and run!  
  
Lex steals a glance over at the demon, long enough to verify that he's not crazy, before leaping to his feet. He vaults over a desk just as the demon tries to grab him, narrowly missing grabbing his legs, tearing Lex's right pant leg with its claws.  
  
Lionel watches from his perch in horror, reaching out for his periled son.  
  
LIONEL  
  
Lex...  
  
Shull grabs Lionel's shoulder from behind and tugs at him forcefully.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
Luthor!  
  
Lionel tries shaking Shull's hand free from his shoulder.  
  
LIONEL  
  
He's my son!  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
We have to get out of here!  
  
Below them, the pool of Kryptonite charged Static Life freezes the table legs and they begin to crack under the weight.  
  
From beneath the pile of rubble created by the collapsed metal staircase, Shull's second bodyguard pushes himself free, hurling an impressive mass of stair off from on top of him. He stands, nostrils flaring, staring down the demon in hot pursuit of Lex. Shull quickly looks back at the bodyguard, though, and commands his attention.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
No! We're leaving!  
  
The bodyguard acknowledges Shull and leaps through the air to the table, a good twenty to thirty foot jump.  
  
LIONEL  
  
No, you have to save my son! We have to save Lex!  
  
They ignore him.  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
Take him.  
  
The bodyguard grabs hold of Lionel and effortlessly hurls the man up over his shoulders. Simultaneously, Shull and the bodyguard, leap from the tabletop to what's left of the staircase in front of the door overlooking the laboratory.  
  
LIONEL  
  
Lex!  
  
LIEUTENANT SHULL  
  
Get him out of here!  
  
Lieutenant Shull opens the door and motions his bodyguard through it, dragging Lionel kicking and screaming out of the lab. Shull takes one last look behind him, pulls out a gun, and points it at the demon. He shoots a small dart that sticks into the neck of the creature, which doesn't even flinch, before leaving. Shull shuts the door behind him.  
  
Meanwhile, neither Lex nor Mercy noticed Shull's escape, doing their best to avoid the demon as it overturns lab tables and effortlessly swats away various projectiles its prey can find to hurl at it. Neither did Victor Fries notice their miraculous retreat. Tears streaking down his face, he reaches for his half-frozen, unconscious, wife from atop a table, but she's more than a few feet out of reach.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Nora, please! Hear me, reach for me! Nora!  
  
Lex hurriedly steps across two desk chairs, then a filing cabinet, then over a desk. Mercy, right behind him, does the same but backwards, swinging a stool in her hand to keep the demon at bay. It growls at her, it's eyes glowing a bright fiery yellow. It pulls its hand back and swats the stool out of her hands, then growls loudly at her. She promptly screams right back at it.  
  
In quite an impressive act of aerobatics, Mercy leaps, back-flipping from a table to a filing cabinet, catching the demon with a kick square to the jaw in the process. It falls off its table and lands on its back on the ground. Mercy stands proud of herself, looking down at the fallen creature.  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
Have Mercy, you son of a...  
  
She chokes as the demon picks itself up and, in a rage, slams its fist down on the table she just back-flipped from, chopping it completely in half. From a filing cabinet behind her, Lex swallows hard.  
  
LEX  
  
Not good.  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
No, sir.  
  
Not good at all. Mercy turns and tries to follow Lex across another couple of lab tables, but the demon is too quick. It backhands the filing cabinet she's on with its right hand, swiping it out from under her, and slaps her in mid-air with its left, sending her hurtling through the air and slamming against the far wall. She hits the ground with a thud, her eyes rolling back in her head as she slumps down to the ground, unconscious but luckily out of the range of the frozen Static Life pool.  
  
Meanwhile, Lex has retreated as far as he can go, backed into a corner on top of a computer server. The creature approaches him slowly, stalking him like a starving lion after a zebra. Desperately, Lex tries to leap passed it, but the demon plucks him out of the air and slams him up against the wall by the throat. It growls as it slowly chokes the life out of him. Gasping for air, he grabs its wrists trying to pry the demon's clamp like hands from around his neck. After a few long seconds, though, his struggling slows as he begins to lose consciousness.  
  
Behind the great demon, Lex barely catches a glimpse of a burst of light that erupts from just above the pile of rubble created from the fallen staircase. A shadowy figure slowly steps out of the light just as the flow of oxygen is completely cut off from Lex's brain and he loses consciousness.  
  
Clark steps down onto the rubble as the glowing golden ankh disappears behind him, nearly slipping on the uneven surface. His eyes widen as he sees the great demon across the laboratory, choking his now unconscious friend to death.  
  
CLARK Lex!  
  
The demon turns its head around to look at Clark. Losing interest in Lex, it drops him and Lex crumbles to the ground just outside the perimeter of the Static Life pool. Spreading its wings, the demon lets out a monstrous growl before leaping into the air.  
  
Clark throws his hands up, catching the great beast's hands before they come down on his throat. The demon's momentum pushes Clark to the ground as he struggles to keep the creature's claws away from his face. Gritting his teeth, he head butts the creature in the jaw and pushes up, hurling it back and into the air. Spreading its wings, it hovers near the ceiling of the laboratory, planning its next assault.  
  
Meanwhile, Victor seems practically oblivious the events which have transpired, still fixated on his wife. Determined to get to her, he stands up on the table to look for something to grab. On its descent from the ceiling to attack Clark, the demon swats Fries off the table and the poor doctor is thrown clear across the lab, landing in a heap very near Mercy. He's out cold.  
  
Clark gets to his feet and looks around at the glowing green pool of Static Life on the ground. Taking a step down towards it, it begins to glow brighter and he feels the affects of the Kryptonite. Flinching in pain, he quickly retreats back up to the top of the pile of rubble.  
  
Out of nowhere, the demon flies up and lands a brutal combination of punches, a left and right to his face, then swings its arms up, cupping its hands together for an overhead slam on Clark's shoulders. Bending down, throwing up his arm, Clark catches the monster's balled up hands with his left hand and swiftly fires nearly a hundred blows to its stomach, in rapid fire succession, with his right. He then lands an uppercut to the stunned beast's jaw, sending it reeling.  
  
Picking up a piece of fallen railing, which equates to a long metal bar, Clark swings it like a baseball bat as the creature comes around for another assault. He hits it twice in the face, then brings it up and slams it over the top of the demon's head. Much to his surprise, the metal bar shatters over the creature's head, which only seems to aggravate it.  
  
Clark looks at the broken metal bar in his hands and rolls his eyes.  
  
CLARK  
  
Swell.  
  
The demon punches Clark in the chest which sends Clark backward up the pile. The demon follows him up the small hill of rubble, backing Clark up against the wall. It punches him several times in the face before Clark dodges, the creature shoving its hand clear through the stone wall.  
  
Clark lands a quick jab back at the creature then goes for a haymaker, but the demon dodges it. Using Clark's momentum against him, the demon pivots around Clark's extended arm, and slams him on the back of the neck, slamming him to the ground. Clark tries to get up, but gets a swift kick to the gut for his efforts, which sends him hurtling through the air. Landing on top of a desk with a heavy thud, the frozen legs of the desk collapse under the pressure and Clark rolls off it into the pool of Kryptonite enhanced Static Life.  
  
Immediately, Clark cries out in pain as the Static Life pools around him. Trying desperately to move through the pain, Clark tries to crawl out of the pool, but can't, coming up short and falling back into the pool next to the half-frozen Nora Fries.  
  
Clark screams in agony as the Static Life pool surrounds him, but as he lays his hand in the pool something odd begins to happen. The pool of liquid begins absorbing into his hand, through his skin.  
  
Clark gets to his knees as the pool continues to absorb through his clothes and in through his skin. The veins in his face and hands pulse a light green and his skin turns a cold shade of blue. He falls over onto Nora, laying his hands on her. All at once, the Static Life on and inside of her is absorbed through his hands. Her complexion changes back to its normal shade of pink, though she remains unconscious.  
  
Finally, the entire pool of Static Life absorbs into Clark's body, as if his skin was acting like some sort of sponge. He lets out one final scream before collapsing. Shivering, lying in a heap on the floor, Clark gasps for air. With each exhale, a wisp of frozen air escapes through his icy lips.  
  
The demon all at once leaps next to him and pulls him up, picking Clark up off the ground. The weary Clark coughs as it holds him in mid-air, growling ferociously. A breath of frozen air from Clark's mouth hits the creature's skin, freezing it slightly. Slowly regaining his senses, Clark notices this and lets out a slightly more powerful breath on the creature's arm. The demon cries out in pain and drops him, its arm almost completely frozen by Clark's breath. It backs away, grabbing at its arm.  
  
Clark lands on his knees, but quickly gets to his feet. Blowing a breath of air, he notices the frozen fog coming from his mouth and as the demon shakes off its pain and storms towards him for another attack, he stares at it with a newfound determination and power.  
  
CLARK Freeze...  
  
Clark purses his lips together and blows a torrential wave of frozen air at the creature, enveloping it in a mighty gust of frozen wind. Using every last bit of air in his lungs, Clark stops blowing at the creature and, once the fog settles, the monstrous demon stands before him in a solid block of jagged ice.  
  
Clark approaches it carefully and examines the beast through the ice. After a thorough investigation, he looks it right in the eye, rears his fist back, and punches the ice, shattering the block, and the creature inside, into a trillion pieces.  
  
Clark turns his attention to his friend.  
  
CLARK Lex...  
  
Clark quickly walks over to check on his friend, but as he approaches he begins to feel the affects of Kryptonite. He stops and backs away. Utilizing his X-Ray vision, Clark peers through Lex's suit jacket, finding the piece of Kryptonite in Lex's pocket that Lionel handed him earlier. Clark doesn't know what to make of it.  
  
In the corner, Mercy shakes her head, slowly beginning to regain consciousness. Realizing the time it's time for a discreet exit is long passed due, Clark searches for a means of escape. Noticing the door above the fallen staircase, Clark leaps into the air, just as Shull and his bodyguard did before, and exits the lab.  
  
Mercy shakes the cobwebs free from her head, briefly checking on Victor Fries as he too wakens.  
  
MERCY GRAVES Hey...  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Nora!  
  
He quickly shrugs her off, immediately heading over to check on Nora. Mercy ignores him and makes her way over to Lex.  
  
Victor makes it to Nora first, and bends down next to her. He puts his hand to her face, surprised to find her no longer frozen and the pool of Static Life completely gone.  
  
Her eyes slowly flutter open.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
Victor...  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
You're all right... Nora, my Nora, you're all right.  
  
He holds her head to his chest and cries tears of relief.  
  
NORA FRIES Victor, I love you...  
  
She looks up at him, making sure to look him in the eyes.  
  
NORA FRIES  
  
... but that's the last time I let you put me into one of those things.  
  
She smiles. He laughs and they hold each other.  
  
Mercy doesn't bother with the gentle approach. She slaps Lex a couple of times to revive him.  
  
MERCY GRAVES Lex, wake up.  
  
Lex's eyes open and he coughs the air back into his lungs. Mercy gives him her hand and she helps him to his feet. The two of them quickly survey the lab. They are confused by what they find, or more importantly by what they don't find, and rightfully so.  
  
MERCY GRAVES  
  
What the hell happened?  
  
Lex looks around. He thinks back to the brief glimpse he caught of Clark coming through the ankh.  
  
LEX  
  
I'm not sure. 


	22. f22

EXT. CABOT FARM – DAY  
  
Chloe and Pete pull up to Clark's truck on the side of the road and get out. Clark is nowhere to be found.  
  
CHLOE Where did he go?  
  
Pete and Chloe begin their search for Clark, heading for the patch of trees.  
  
EXT. FIELD HILL – DAY  
  
Chloe and Pete step through the trees, looking up the hill.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Clark?  
  
Chloe and Pete walk up the hill to where Clark is standing in front of the pile of rubble that was once a house. He stares intently at the wreck, clearing scanning it with his X-Ray vision. His complexion is back to a healthy pink thanks to the light of the sun high in the air.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Clark?  
  
PETE  
  
Hey, Clark man, you all right?  
  
Clark lowers his head and shakes it.  
  
CLARK  
  
It's not there anymore.  
  
Chloe and Pete each look confused.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Uhm... What's not there?  
  
Clark turns around and starts back toward the trees.  
  
CLARK  
  
Nothing. Let's go home.  
  
Chloe and Pete toss each other a strange look. They shrug and follow Clark back through the trees.  
  
EXT. LEX'S MANSION – LATE AFTERNOON  
  
A couple of pills sit out on Lex's desk, obviously pain killers. He puts a glass down on the desk, fills it with some brandy, and sits down. Tossing the pain killers in his mouth, he drinks them down with the full shot. He puts the glass down.  
  
The laptop in front of him chimes and a window pops up indicating: "Incoming Video Stream". Lex presses a few buttons on the keyboard and a second window pops up. On the screen, Noah stares back at Lex from behind a desk of his own.  
  
NOAH Mr. Luthor.  
  
LEX  
  
Noah... How goes things in Gotham City?  
  
NOAH  
  
As well as can be expected. A dreary place this is, I don't think they have a sun here.  
  
LEX  
  
Were you able to complete your mission?  
  
NOAH The experience was quite revealing, though it was not without its proverbial bumps in the road. It seems you're not the only one interested in your father's affairs in Gotham. I found my infiltration lacking a certain bit of privacy.  
  
LEX You ran into trouble?  
  
NOAH Nothing that I couldn't handle. Actually, he provided a nice bit of distraction, whoever he was. They almost caught him... almost.  
  
LEX  
  
What did you find?  
  
NOAH  
  
Lionel Luthor has been a busy man.  
  
Noah punches a few keys on his keyboard. A window pops up briefly on Lex's laptop reading: "Incoming Images". After a short delay, a window pops up with a picture of what appears to be the interior of a factory. There are several large machines in a grand assembly line.  
  
Lex leans in to survey the image.  
  
NOAH  
  
These are photographs I took from inside the factory your father took over from Tenshi Aerospace. Every machine you see here is new, brought in from a third party. He completely scrapped all the machines from the original buyout.  
  
LEX  
  
Those machines are expensive pieces of equipment. Why would he just scrap them like that?  
  
NOAH  
  
It seems he needed more specialized equipment for what he planned on manufacturing.  
  
LEX  
  
What is he manufacturing?  
  
Noah smiles and presses another button on his keyboard. Another image pops up of the end of the assembly line where several workers can be seen removing some kind of high tech rifles off of the machines and onto large gun racks.  
  
LEX  
  
Well, isn't that interesting?  
  
It was more of a comment than a question...  
  
NOAH  
  
More than you know. Those aren't your standard rifles and shotguns coming off those lines. Nearest I can tell they're some kind of new high-tech energy disruptors.  
  
LEX  
  
Energy disruptors?  
  
NOAH ::nods:: You heard me. I even saw one tested. They can render any electrical device completely useless, kind of like a portable EMP, but even more than that, they can disrupt neural impulses as well. Get hit by one of those mothers on full power and your brain turns to stew. Even better yet, to the untrained eye, it looks like an electrocution.  
  
LEX  
  
::under breath:: He's preparing for a war.  
  
NOAH It's like he's preparing for a war or something.  
  
Lex looks up, wondering if Noah heard him or not. He didn't.  
  
NOAH  
  
It's pretty advanced technology. I'd never seen anything like it, so I dug a little deeper. I figured your father had to have help developing this kind of weapon.  
  
LEX  
  
The military.  
  
NOAH  
  
How did you know?  
  
LEX  
  
I know my father.  
  
That, and Lionel told him as much.  
  
NOAH American tax dollars hard at work.  
  
Noah leans closer and taps a few more buttons on his keyboard.  
  
NOAH  
  
I can't be sure, but I think this is your father's chief contact in the Army.  
  
Another picture pops up on Lex's screen which immediately garners his attention. The picture is of a man dressed in full military garb inspecting the assembly line. The man is very familiar to Lex. The first time he saw this man's face was on the video tape Lionel showed him back at the plant. It is the same man that Lionel tried to convince Lex was in league with Clark. It is none other than Colonel Kalib... standing next to Lionel.  
  
NOAH  
  
Colonel Kalib was all I got. He flew in late Thursday night to inspect the facility. Quite frankly, he didn't seem all together pleased with what he found. Although, I doubt anything would have pleased the man. He came and left in one hell of a tiff. The strange thing was, I hacked into the military's defense database to run a background check on the guy. They don't have a record of any Colonel Kalib on file. It is conceivable that the government has classified his personnel file.  
  
Lex stares at the screen as another picture pops up of Lionel and Colonel Kalib shaking hands. Lieutenant Shull is also in the picture, behind Kalib. Lionel is smiling, but Lex is not. Lionel lied to him.  
  
LEX  
  
It's possible... or there may be another explanation.  
  
NOAH  
  
::confused:: Sir?  
  
LEX  
  
Noah, would it be possible for you to... obtain one of these rifles.  
  
Noah grins and reaches for something off screen. He picks up one of the rifles and shows it to Lex.  
  
NOAH  
  
I think that can be arranged, sir.  
  
Lex sits in silence, glaring intently at the picture of his father and Kalib.  
  
LEX  
  
Come home, Noah. You've done well, but I need you for another assignment.  
  
NOAH  
  
Yes, Mr. Luthor.  
  
Noah nods and cuts the transmission. Lex closes his laptop and opens the drawer in his desk, pulling something out. He leans back in his chair, staring at the chunk of Kryptonite in his hand. 


	23. f23

INT. KENT FARM – CLARK'S LOFT  
  
Clark sits in the window of his loft staring out at the clear night sky. Chloe comes up behind him with a blanket, placing it over his shoulders. She kisses him on the cheek and rests her head on his shoulder, looking up at the stars with him.  
  
CLARK I keep closing my eyes and hoping that if I try hard enough, if I really think about them and see them in my mind, maybe I'll open them up and see them walking down the driveway.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Me too.  
  
CLARK One time it even worked. I was half way to him by the time I realized... by the time I woke up.  
  
CHLOE  
  
We're going to find them, Clark. We can't give up hope.  
  
Clark shakes his head, knowing more than his hopeful counterpart.  
  
CLARK I want to believe that Chloe. I really do. I just feel so...  
  
CHLOE  
  
Alone?  
  
CLARK  
  
Powerless.  
  
Chloe nods.  
  
CLARK Chloe... Do you believe in destiny?  
  
CHLOE  
  
Destiny?  
  
She picks up her head and sits down in the window, facing him.  
  
CLARK Do you believe that your life, everything you've done and everything you're going to do, has already been planned out, already set out in front of you?  
  
CHLOE  
  
I believe in choice. I believe in free will.  
  
CLARK  
  
But maybe choice, and free will, are just means to an end. Maybe...  
  
He swallows.  
  
CLARK  
  
Maybe we all just have our roles that we were meant to play. Maybe our lives are just us playing our roles the way we're supposed to.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Would that be such a terrible thing?  
  
Clark looks at her, confused.  
  
CLARK  
  
It would mean that we aren't really free, that our lives aren't really our own. If everything we do, every choice we make is predetermined, if we are destined to live our lives a certain way, then what control do we have over anything? We're just... slaves to fate.  
  
Chloe looks at Clark, who appears utterly dejected and beaten. She take his hand in hers.  
  
CHLOE  
  
I did a story a few months back for The Torch. A firefighter stands in front of a burning building. He looks up at a thick cloud of black smoke pouring from the windows, but he knows there are people inside. He knows that if he stands there and does nothing, those people will die.  
  
He looks up at her, listening carefully.  
  
CHLOE  
  
That firefighter takes a picture out of his pocket and looks at it. It's a picture of his wife and two little children. It was taken on a vacation they took together during the summer. They're on the beach, sitting on a blanket, eating bologna sandwiches and Doritos. He looks back up at the building and realizes that if he goes in, he might not come back out. He might never see them again, and that vacation will be the last that his wife and his two kids will have had with their husband and father. What does he do?  
  
It was a rhetorical question. She continues.  
  
CHLOE  
  
He kisses the picture three times, once for each of them, and then puts it back in his pocket. He grits his teeth, takes one last breath of fresh air, and runs inside. He had a choice to make and he chose to run inside that building, putting his own life at risk, for the sake of others. Now, why did he do it? Did he have control over the choice? Was he destined to go inside? Was there really a choice at all? Was it his fate?  
  
She moves closer to him.  
  
CHLOE  
  
The question you should be asking yourself is, does it matter? Let's say his choice was predetermined. Let's say it was his destiny to go into that building, to risk his life for those people trapped inside. Does that take away anything from his decision to do so? Does it change the man, or what had to be done? If we are here, on this planet, just to fulfill some kind of predestined karma... does it make us any less, or change who we are?  
  
CLARK But if it's all just words on a page, words that we can't change, what's the point?  
  
CHLOE  
  
If I've learned one thing from being a reporter it's that the story doesn't end with the words on the page, Clark. There's more to life than just the story.  
  
He nods and thinks about what she said. She kisses him on the cheek and stands up.  
  
CHLOE  
  
I'm gonna go to bed.  
  
CLARK  
  
Okay...  
  
She takes a few steps towards the stairs, putting her hands in her robe pockets, then turns back around, pulling something out of her right pocket.  
  
CHLOE Wait... I almost forgot. When the Sheriff came by today, she gave us this.  
  
Clark turns around. Chloe hands him the clear crystal.  
  
CLARK  
  
What is it?  
  
CHLOE  
  
I thought you'd know. She said to give it to your father if we saw him. I guess it belongs to him.  
  
Clark examines it.  
  
CLARK  
  
I've never seen it before.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Maybe your mom will know.  
  
Clark nods and palms it. Chloe turns back toward the steps.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Good night, Clark.  
  
CLARK  
  
Good night.  
  
As Chloe starts down the steps, she passes Martha on her way up. She's carrying a thermos with her.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Good night, Mrs. Kent.  
  
MARTHA  
  
Good night, Chloe.  
  
Martha stops at the top of the steps, looking across the way at her dejected son.  
  
MARTHA  
  
Clark, honey, it's late.  
  
CLARK  
  
I know, Mom. I'm not tired.  
  
She doesn't buy it. She checks to make sure Chloe has left the barn before walking towards him.  
  
MARTHA  
  
Clark Joseph Kent, you're not fooling anyone. You may be super-human but you're not impervious to sleep deprivation.  
  
CLARK I'll go to bed soon, Mom.  
  
She frowns, then walks the thermos over to him. She unscrews the top and pours some soup into it.  
  
MARTHA  
  
Fine, then you can at least have some soup. It's got all fresh vegetables in it from the market. I bought them this morning.  
  
Clark manages to offer her a smile as he takes the top with the soup in it from her. Just as he's about to sip it, though, he sneezes, instantly freezing the top and the contents inside. He shakes his head, turning it upside down and shaking it a little.  
  
MARTHA  
  
Still sneezing I see.  
  
CLARK  
  
I really hate that.  
  
Clark concentrates on the top in his hand and gently starts heating it back up with his heat vision.  
  
MARTHA  
  
Be careful, you don't want to melt the plastic.  
  
CLARK Don't worry, Mom, I know what I'm...  
  
Something out the window draws Martha's attention and she drops the thermos.  
  
MARTHA  
  
Oh my god.  
  
Her eyes wide and her mouth open, she stares out the window. Clark looks up at her.  
  
CLARK  
  
Mom? What is it?  
  
He turns his attention out the window and looks down the driveway where, as if torn right out of his dream, Jonathan Kent comes walking down the driveway pushing Gabe Sullivan's wheelchair.  
  
MARTHA  
  
Jonathan...  
  
CLARK  
  
Dad...  
  
Martha turns and runs for the stairs, Clark right behind her. He leaves the crystal behind on the window sill.  
  
EXT. KENT FARM – NIGHT  
  
Clark runs out of the barn now with Martha right behind him.  
  
CLARK  
  
Dad!  
  
MARTHA Jonathan!  
  
As they run down the driveway, the door to the porch opens, Chloe hearing the commotion from inside the house.  
  
CHLOE  
  
What's going on?  
  
Chloe looks down the driveway and sees Jonathan pushing Gabe in the wheelchair.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Daddy... Daddy!  
  
She leaps off the porch, completely bypassing the steps, and follows Clark and Martha down the driveway.  
  
Jonathan looks tired, but overjoyed to be home. He steps out from behind the wheelchair and stretches his arms out.  
  
CLARK Dad!  
  
JONATHAN  
  
Clark!  
  
Clark is the first one there, and immediately throws his arms around his father. They share a hug which Martha soon joins.  
  
MARTHA  
  
Jonathan... Oh, Jonathan.  
  
Tears streak down Martha's face as she holds on to her husband. Clark moves to allow his mother and father to kiss. Meanwhile, Chloe all but tackles her poor father in the wheelchair. She is also crying.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Daddy!  
  
GABE SULLIVAN Chloe, baby... Oh, I missed you so much.  
  
Also crying, Gabe kisses his little girl a hundred time on her face.  
  
Jonathan has one arm around Clark and the other around Martha as the small family share a group embrace.  
  
MARTHA  
  
I was so worried. Thank God you're home.  
  
Even Clark sheds a tear. A single droplet escapes from his eye and runs down his cheek.  
  
JONATHAN  
  
It's good to be home.  
  
CLARK I missed you, Dad.  
  
JONATHAN I missed you too, son. I missed you too.  
  
INT. LEXCORP PLANT – LABORATORY  
  
Doctor Victor Fries studies the remains of his fried Static Life Chamber, paying close attention to the Kryptonite distribution compartment. Carefully, he removes a burnt data chip from the compartment with a pair of needle pliers. A dark streak of anger ripples through his jaw line.  
  
VICTOR FRIES  
  
Sabotage! 


	24. f24

EXT. KENT FARM – NIGHT  
  
Clark sits out on the front porch steps, staring out at nothing in particular. Inside the house, Jonathan kisses Martha good night.  
  
JONATHAN I'll be up in a minute.  
  
Martha kisses him a second time and then heads upstairs. Jonathan turns and steps through the storm door. Clark looks up at him as his father sits down next to him.  
  
JONATHAN I'd say penny for your thoughts, but I imagine I'd probably need a lot more than that.  
  
Clark humors his father with a smile.  
  
CLARK  
  
A lot's happened in the past few weeks. I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever going to get a good night's sleep again.  
  
JONATHAN You and me both.  
  
They each take a deep breath and exhale at the same exact time, each sitting the exact same way with their elbows resting on their knees. They may not be related in their DNA, but they are definitely father and son.  
  
CLARK I just don't get it. Why'd they let you go?  
  
JONATHAN I don't know. I do know that Lana is a troubled girl, though, son. I think that Scream did more to her than any of us realized.  
  
CLARK  
  
But he won. He beat me. I went back to the hill and the portal was gone. I didn't know where else to look. You were gone... and then they just up and let you go. Why?  
  
JONATHAN I'm not sure. I don't have all the answers. God help the man who thinks he does. All I know is that I'm home now, with my family, and that's what's important.  
  
He puts his arm around Clark.  
  
JONATHAN  
  
This, right here, you and me, that's what's important. This is what counts.  
  
Clark diverts his eyes to the ground. His father is home, but he still seems sad.  
  
CLARK I gave up, Dad.  
  
A pause...  
  
CLARK I promised myself that I would never give up, that I would never lose hope. I promised Mom. I wanted to be strong. I was determined. In the maze, in Fate's Labyrinth, I was even an inspiration... but when I went back to that hill, and that portal was gone... I gave up.  
  
Clark looks up at his Dad.  
  
CLARK I didn't think I'd ever see you again... and I gave up.  
  
JONATHAN Hey, son, it's all right. It's all right. We all have moments of weakness.  
  
CLARK But not me... I mean, I shouldn't. I can't afford too anymore. You were depending on me, and I gave up. What does that say about me?  
  
JONATHAN It tells me that you're not perfect... and you don't have to be, son, not even you.  
  
CLARK But...  
  
JONATHAN  
  
No, no "buts". Now, you listen to me, Clark Kent. I'm your father and I'm proud of you. I am proud of who you are. We all make mistakes. The important thing is that we learn from them, just like you're learning now. That's part of being human, it's part of growing up, and it's part of learning to be a man... and whether your mother or I like it or not, that's what you're becoming. And you're growing into a man that a father can be proud of.  
  
Clark nods a silent appreciation for the vote of confidence.  
  
JONATHAN  
  
Now, I don't know what to make of all this "savior of the world" talk. I don't know that I believe in that. I certainly don't understand it. I don't think you're a god, but I do believe, son, that you are here for a reason. Now, I don't know what reason, maybe... I don't know. Listen to me, Clark, sometimes all a man can do in this world is to try and be the best man that he can be. Sometimes that man will fail, or give up, but he'll fight back. He'll rise up, he'll learn from his mistakes, and he'll come back stronger than ever. That's your job now. That's what you have to do.  
  
Clark nods.  
  
JONATHAN  
  
Okay? You listening to me?  
  
Jonathan squeezes Clark a little and smiles, coaxing a smile out of Clark.  
  
CLARK  
  
::smiles:: Okay.  
  
JONATHAN  
  
Good. Now, I'm gonna go to bed. I'm tired... and so are you.  
  
CLARK Okay, Dad.  
  
Jonathan looks up at the loft window and notices the light still on. He motions to it.  
  
JONATHAN  
  
Turn off the loft light, will ya?  
  
CLARK Yeah.  
  
Jonathan and Clark stand up. Jonathan heads for the door and Clark for the barn.  
  
JONATHAN  
  
Oh, and Clark...  
  
Clark stops and turns around.  
  
JONATHAN  
  
I love you, son. Don't ever forget that.  
  
CLARK  
  
I love you too, Dad.  
  
They exchange smiles and Jonathan turns and heads inside. Clark heads for the barn.  
  
A snap of a twig... Clark's super hearing senses someone moving in the field by the fence. He uses his vision to look out. It's Lana.  
  
CLARK Lana?  
  
Clark starts walking down the road toward her. She sees him, turns, and runs.  
  
CLARK Lana!  
  
He chases after her, using a quick burst of super speed to catch her. He grabs her by the arm and she struggles to break free.  
  
LANA  
  
Let me go, Clark! Please, let me go. I don't want to be here.  
  
CLARK  
  
Lana, please, you need help.  
  
LANA  
  
Just let me go, you don't understand.  
  
CLARK  
  
What? What don't I understand?  
  
LANA  
  
I don't want to be here. I don't want to see this.  
  
CLARK  
  
See what? What are you talking about?  
  
She stops struggling and turns to face him. She's been crying.  
  
LANA  
  
Please, Clark. Forgive me. I didn't want too. I didn't have any choice.  
  
CLARK Lana, just come inside. We'll talk...  
  
LANA  
  
No, I can't.  
  
CLARK  
  
Why not?  
  
LANA  
  
I can't... Clark, just please tell me you forgive me. I had to let him go.  
  
CLARK  
  
Lana, just calm down. What's going on? You can tell me.  
  
She shakes her head through her tears.  
  
LANA  
  
I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to let him go, but I had no choice. If I didn't, the prophecy wouldn't be fulfilled. That's why I went to Fate in the first place. I didn't want it to happen.  
  
Meanwhile, back at the porch, Jonathan steps outside and looks up at the loft impatiently. The light is still on.  
  
JONATHAN  
  
Hey, Clark...  
  
He waits for an answer, but gets none. He starts down the porch steps.  
  
JONATHAN  
  
Clark, come on. Just turn out the light. It's late.  
  
Jonathan heads for the barn.  
  
Back in the field, Lana is still in hysterics. Clark keeps his grasp on her arm.  
  
CLARK  
  
What are you talking about? What's going to happen?  
  
She calms herself. Reluctantly, she begins to recite...  
  
LANA Fearing the God's wrath, the Evil One sought out to destroy the deliverer before his time of ascension. Knowing he could never hope to defeat the savior himself, the Evil One waited to strike against El's heart.  
  
INT. KENT FARM – CLARK'S LOFT  
  
Jonathan calls up to the loft from the bottom of the barn stairs.  
  
JONATHAN Clark... Just turn of the light and come inside.  
  
No answer.  
  
He climbs to the top of the steps.  
  
JONATHAN  
  
Clark?  
  
The clear crystal sits on the window sill.  
  
EXT. KENT FARM – NIGHT  
  
Lana continues to recite to Clark.  
  
LANA Blackening the heavens, blinding the Gods' sight, the Evil One would wait for the hero El to save the one who fell from the sky for the moment to strike. The burden of a hero is a heart for all, and the Evil One knew this.  
  
CUT TO: Jonathan in the loft...  
  
Jonathan walks over to the light and goes to turn it off when something catches his eye. A glimmer from the moonshine hits the clear crystal on the window sill and garners Jonathan's attention.  
  
CUT TO: Lana reciting to Clark...  
  
LANA  
  
So, the Evil One struck at where El's heart was most weak, where the pain would be at its greatest. The deliverer was entrusted to slaves and would set forth to free them. The Evil One would make each of them pay a price for that freedom. He would not be able to destroy the savior, but he could hurt him...  
  
CUT TO: Jonathan in the loft...  
  
Jonathan picks up the clear crystal from the window sill and it immediately begins to glow a bright white that fills the entire loft with light.  
  
CUT TO: Lana reciting to Clark...  
  
LANA ... by destroying the slave.  
  
A bright white light explodes out of the loft window which immediately grabs Clark's and Lana's attention. Clark is no fool. He knows what Lana was talking about.  
  
CLARK  
  
Dad...  
  
Lana cries and turns away as Clark super speeds back to the barn.  
  
INT. KENT FARM – CLARK'S LOFT  
  
Clark speeds into the barn, racing to the top of the stairs. A large man with broad shoulders stands in front of a pulsing white portal. He has his arms behind his back, one hand locked around the opposite wrist. It is General Drake, an intense orange fire emanating from his eyes which are staring squarely at Jonathan.  
  
CLARK No!  
  
Clark reaches out, half a second too late, as two beams of concentrated fire erupt from the man's eyes and slam into Jonathan's chest, knocking him backwards and to the ground. Clark quickly races to his father's side.  
  
CLARK  
  
Dad! Dad!  
  
Clark lifts his father's head up slightly, Jonathan's chest burnt to a crisp.  
  
JONATHAN  
  
Clark...  
  
CLARK  
  
I'm here, Dad.  
  
He barely gets it out before Jonathan's eyes roll back in his head and the life slips out of him.  
  
CLARK No... Dad, please... Don't... You can't...  
  
Clark cries, trying to revive Jonathan, but to no avail.  
  
GENERAL DRAKE  
  
How sad, the forlorn child desperately clings to the lifeless heap of his fallen father. If I subscribed to the infantile dreck that is human sentiment, I might be touched. But, I acquiesce. We finally meet, Kal-El.  
  
Clark, still holding his father, looks up at the General, tears and furious rage in his eyes.  
  
CLARK  
  
Why? Why him, you coward? It's me you want. Why kill him?  
  
GENERAL DRAKE  
  
One would think you would know that by now. How small you've become on this simple world. Your father was wrong in sending you here. We, you and I, are merely destiny's pawns. We do what fate demands.  
  
CLARK If that's true, then you're in for a big disappointment. Word has it you're going to lose.  
  
GENERAL DRAKE  
  
Perhaps, but in the end the final outcome is ultimately meaningless. History remembers war for its scale, for its majesty. Life and death are irrelevant, but eternity is an all together different matter. We are rivals of a different quality, titans owned by mystique and veneration. We are idol. We are divine. The elements are in place and the stage is set.  
  
General Drake smiles devilishly.  
  
GENERAL DRAKE  
  
Besides, a victory would mean a victory over fate itself, and a man who has power over destiny has dominion over all. I consider it a challenge.  
  
Clark looks up at him, pure hate behind his eyes.  
  
CLARK  
  
You're insane!  
  
GENERAL DRAKE  
  
No...  
  
The flames from Drake's eyes start up again, growing to envelop his entire body. His pink skin and American military garb burn away and what is left is a stone skinned behemoth with dark navy metal armor and a cold granite face.  
  
GENERAL DRAKE ...I am Darkseid.  
  
Remaining in his stance, Darkseid hovers off the ground and turns, hovering back into the energy portal. It closes around him and he disappears.  
  
Clark looks down at his father, lying dead in his arms, and cries.  
  
---- The End 


End file.
